


Get A Little More Close to Me

by headasexual



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Human, Closeted Alec Lightwood, Explicit Sexual Content, Fluff, Good Parent Asmodeus (Shadowhunter Chronicles), Jock Alec Lightwood, M/M, Masturbation, Past Magnus Bane/Camille Belcourt, Photographer Magnus Bane, Secret Relationship, Sexting, Sexual Content, Texting, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-24
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:27:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 49,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25460902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/headasexual/pseuds/headasexual
Summary: Looking through the pictures Magnus had taken at the game, one in particular caught his attention. It was of Alec during one of his last times up to bat, clearly fractions of a second after his bat had made contact with the ball. It captured Alec’s follow through perfectly and was full of motion. The lines of his body were clear, even through the uniform which had patches of dirt showing how hard he had played during the game. When he zoomed in on his face, he could see a flicker of joy and relief in Alec’s eyes as he sent the ball flying away from him and the barest upturn in his parted lips."He’s beautiful...I’m screwed."***A high school AU where Magnus is an artsy outcast and Alec is a jock.
Relationships: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Comments: 151
Kudos: 244





	1. Chapter 1: So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings

**Author's Note:**

> Very much inspired after watching "First Girl I Loved". I adored concept of the romance through texting between two people from totally different social casts concept and wanted to explore it.
> 
> Title of the fic and the chapter title taken from "So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings" by Caroline Polachek. https://youtu.be/sn3cHUtNZKo

Magnus wished he knew the first thing about baseball. 

He had always been grateful that his father had been so accepting of him pursuing his creative interests, but as he stood behind the fencing separating him from the field snapping pictures for photography club, he really wished his father had insisted that he stay in little league. Or, you know, literally any sport. Because as he watched the players running around the pitch and people calling out numbers and cheering, he had no idea what he was watching other than a bunch of guys in black and white outfits getting dirtied up as they ran around and skidded along the ground trying to catch balls. Not that he minded that part.

He recognized some of the guys that ran out, like Jace Herondale, who pantsed him in Freshman year when Magnus was still trying to at least pretend to look straight and in his baggy pants phase. _Dark days_ , he thought. Raj was out there as well, the first guy to turn a dumpster over his head after he joined the drama club. Or literally how any of them treated him after...whatever. All in all, most of the guys he was watching were all absolute tools in his book.

All except the stupidly good looking Alexander Lightwood.

He was literally the only reason he had even volunteered for the assignment at all. That, and Clary was the only one who would usually come to these things and she was out sick. _If only I wasn’t such a good friend…_

He focused his lens in on Alec as he stepped up to the pitch. According to the board, it was the second inning, and Alec still hadn’t gotten to get out and really get dirtied up like the rest of them, so his black and white uniform that marked him as part of the Idris Hunters wasn’t covered in dust yet. Already on first base was Sebastian, a recent transfer and a Junior but a capable enough player from what Magnus could tell.

_If I time it just right, this shot could make Yearbook._

Or it could just be one for his own personal collection. Not that he had a bunch of pictures of Alec, but photography club did afford him certain shots of Alec’s backside that he wouldn’t otherwise be privy to. And it was a backside that deserved much more admiration than it did.

The flyers for William Herondale High School, somewhat derogatorily called ‘The Institute’ by the student body, loved advertising the fact that a descendent of the man the school took its name for was a star athlete. Jace Herondale graced the front of leaflets for the swim team, the baseball team, and the weightlifting club, as well as he had been particularly prevalent in pictures in the past three yearbooks. Magnus had taken note of how always behind him, or beside him, or in the background, or barely just out of frame, you could almost always spot Alexander Lightwood. The two had been friends since basically forever, but it seemed like no one had noticed Alec next to the school’s golden child. At least, no one but Magnus.

He lined up the shot and just as Alec cracked his bat against the ball being hurled at him by the Queens Seels’ pitcher he heard the lens shuttering as he took the pictures. He refocused his aim, snapping and hoping the pictures turned out good, as Alec began sprinting, making it all the way to second base before the ball was finally retrieved and he stopped. _Safe_.

The intrusive thought of _I’d take him to second base_ went through Magnus’ head before he shook it off.

Jace stepped up to the plate next, the small crowd around letting out a few cheers as he did so. The crowd wasn’t so big as it would become later in the season, since this was the first game of the season. Magnus lined up the shot, just as he had for Alec, and began snapping as Jace hit the ball. He could hear a cheer of “ _Homerun!_ ” and people shouting excitedly as Jace began running. Magnus didn’t follow him down with his camera like he had for Alec, instead keeping it focused on home and snapping pictures as the three players out on the field jogged across the diamond to home base. It was certainly a strong start for the Hunters, since the Seels hadn’t even gotten one player across during their part of the first half of the inning.

The game continued on much like that, ending in a very sound win and a fortuitous start to the Hunters’ season. 

_They’ll be strong contenders, if not THE ones to beat_ , Magnus thought. 

Magnus snapped pictures of the team celebrating their victory, all the players clapping Jace on the back in congratulations for securing two good home runs during the game before they shook hands with the losing team. Magnus watched as people began to disperse, either meeting with family watching along the sidelines or walking off to their respective rides home. Alec, he noticed, had separated from the rest of the team to collect something from the dugout. Magnus bit his lip, and decided it was now or never.

 _We graduate this year_ , he thought. _And it’s barely four months until I might never see him again._

Magnus adjusted his scarf and the camera strap on his neck before walking out around the fencing and past the remaining players to where Alec was. He watched Alec as he was leaning down and gathering up items that the other players had left behind, giving him an excellent view of Alec’s ass, now thoroughly dusty from the dirt out on the pitch.

“Hey,” Magnus said as a way to announce his presence.

Alec spun around so he was facing him. His brow was still sweaty from the game, even against the chilly early spring night.

“You played a really good game,” Magnus complimented him. “Really great...form.”

Alec’s face brightened up at that. “Thank you. Yeah, I think that was the strongest start the Hunters have had in a long time.”

Magnus smirked, and said, “Clearly they’ve got great players this year.”

“Yeah,” Alec said, “Jace really killed it.”

“I was talking about you,” he told him. “Jace played a great game, but it wouldn’t have been as good if you weren’t out there.”

Alec blushed, looking down at his feet for a moment before meeting Magnus’ eyes again.

“Thank you,” he said. 

Magnus gave him a grin, then shook his head as he held out his hand, “I didn’t even introduce myself! I’m Magnus, by the way. Magnus Bane.”

Alec returned the smile, taking the offered hand. “Alec Lightwood, team co-captain. Nice to meet you, Magnus. Formally, at least, I’ve seen you around school.”

“I realize I can be hard to miss,” Magnus said with a laugh as he gestured to himself.

While Magnus was by no means wearing neon signs around school, he was self-conscious enough to know that glitter and nail polish was a little fashion-forward for the Institute. 

He pointed down at the camera Magnus had still hanging on him. “You were snapping pictures of the game, right? For...journalism club or something?”

Magnus was about to correct him, that he was in photography and not journalism, then he had an excellent idea. Well, maybe not excellent, but he hoped it would turn out excellently.

“Yeah, journalism club,” Magnus agreed. “I was actually thinking about doing a piece, hopefully get it into the school paper. And I was wondering if maybe you would be interested in doing an...interview?”

The lie came much easier than Magnus had anticipated. He hoped that the amount of possibility that he had thrown in would make Alec less suspicious when there was never an interview in the school newspaper. Because he absolutely was not on the journalism club. 

_At last, all the years of high school theater have finally paid off. I’m sure Dad would be over the moon that I would use all that time to try to get into Alexander Lightwood’s pants_.

“You sure you don’t want to ask Jace? I mean, he was the one who really scored us the game, and if you hurry out to the parking lot I’m sure you could still catch him,” Alec stated.

 _I wonder how often he’s said something just like this before_.

“You’re just as much a part of the team as he is. And why wouldn’t I want to interview the team co-captain?” Magnus asked teasingly.

Alec observed him curiously for a moment before he put his hands on his hips and gave a curt nod. “Sure.”

Magnus thought fast. He had never actually given an interview before, so he had no clue where he should even start.

“Well, I don’t have all of the stuff I need right now. Maybe we could meet up sometime? I can give you my number and arrange something?” Magnus asked.

Alec nodded, and Magnus reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. Alec stepped up close to him, taking Magnus by surprise as he took his phone out of his hands. He typed something really quickly before handing it back to him.

“I left my phone in my car,” Alec explained. “I sent myself a text, so now I’ve got your number.”

“Perfect!” Magnus said as he slipped his phone back into his pocket.

They stood there for a moment before Alec gestured behind him.

“I have to…” Alec trailed off and Magnus nodded.

“Right!” he exclaimed. “I’ll let you get back to...all that. It was really nice finally getting to meet you. And I hope we can see each other again soon.”

“For the interview,” Alec said. “Yeah. I’ll see you around.”

Magnus turned and tried to look as casual as possible as he walked quickly off of the field and back to his car. He carefully packed his equipment up, making a mental note to pull out the SD card to look at the pictures later when he got back. Once he hopped into the driver’s seat, he finally looked at his phone to see the text Alec had sent.

 **+19175552016** **  
****8:31PM** **  
****Magnus Bane, 3/2.**

Alec looked at the text curiously for a moment.

 **Magnus** **  
****8:40PM** **  
****what does the 3/2 mean?**

Magnus added Alec’s number into his contacts quickly, plugging his phone into his car charger before starting the car and driving back home. During the drive, he heard his phone go off, but didn’t get the chance to stop at any red lights to check it. He pulled up into the driveway, putting it into park and reading the message.

 **Alexander** **  
****8:46PM** **  
****It’s the date.**

Magnus typed ‘So this is our first date?’ before thinking better of it and retyping the message.

 **Magnus** **  
****8:54PM** **  
****do you always send the date in ur texts?**

He unloaded his camera and backpack, hauling everything into the house. 

His father was in the living room, lounging in one of the armchairs sorting through papers. Even though the college he taught at had students turn everything in digitally, Asmodeus was still too old fashioned and stuck in his ways to convert to grading papers on his laptop. Instead, he put the Bane household printer and a red felt tip pen to work every few weeks and marked up everything by hand. He looked up from his work as Magnus walked into the house. 

“Late night rehearsing with Catarina?” he called out.

“Nope,” Magnus responded. “Doing a project for photography, had to go to a school event to take pictures.”

“Sounds fun. Did you eat?”

“Yes, Father.”

“Good. There are leftovers in the fridge if you need more.”

Magnus felt his phone buzz in his pocket and hurried up the stairs to his room, calling out, “Okay, thank you!”

He nearly threw his stuff next to his bed as he plopped down and read the message.

 **Alexander** **  
****8:58PM** **  
****Sometimes. It makes it easier to remember when I’ve met someone if I type it out.**

Magnus thought for a moment before typing out his reply.

 **Magnus** **  
****8:59PM** **  
****so im guessing ur the tactile learner type?**

It rode the line of being too flirty, but he wanted to at least put out a feeler just in case.

 **Alexander** **  
****8:59PM** **  
****And I guess you’re not the proper punctuation type?**

 _I wasn’t expecting him to be so sassy_ , Magnus thought, a smirk creeping across his face.

 **Magnus** **  
****9:00PM** **  
****are u a stickler for grammar alexander?**

 **Alexander** **  
****9:01PM** **  
****Maybe a little. My sister says it always makes me seem a robot in texts though.**

Magnus typed out ‘At least you’re one of those hot robots’ before erasing that and starting to type ‘Robots aren’t nearly as good at baseball as you’ before deciding that was stupid too.

 **Magnus** **  
****9:01PM** **  
****clearly she doesnt understand ur trying to help others w/ their bad texting habits**

 **Alexander** **  
****9:02PM** **  
****It’s an uphill battle, but somebody has to do it.**

Magnus softly chuckled to himself. Even if Alec had such a serious demeanor as he walked around school campus, at least over text messages he could be lighthearted.

 **Magnus** **  
****9:02PM** **  
****i should be trying to get on ur good side if im interviewing u. should i fix up my grammar?**

Magnus watched his phone and waited. It was a moment before the reply came.

 **Alexander** **  
****9:03PM** **  
****A little good grammar goes a long way with me.**

Magnus bit his lip, wanting to ask Alec to elaborate. But that text could literally mean anything.

_I’m reading into it what I want it to mean._

He went into his settings and changed it so that his texts would auto-capitalize the beginnings of sentences.

 **Magnus** **  
****9:04PM** **  
****I guess I can be a “good grammar” type if that’s what it takes.**

Magnus regretted it almost as soon as he sent it. While Alec’s text could be interpreted innocently, his was clearly too flirty if that wasn’t what Alec had intended.

 **Alexander** **  
****9:05PM** **  
****So when do you want to meet up?**

 **Magnus** **  
****9:05PM** **  
****I’m free tomorrow after 6 if you want me to stop by your place?**

 **Alexander** **  
****9:07PM** **  
****That should work for me.**

Alec sent him the address and Magnus turned to his equipment. He pulled out the memory card from his camera and set to work sorting through the photos. Some had ended up blurry or out of focus, but he found a dozen or so shots he liked out of the bunch. One in particular was of Alec during one of his last times during the game when he was up to bat, clearly fractions of a second after his bat had made contact with the ball. The whole series of shots from that one were great, showing Alec’s follow through in the hit perfectly, but that one photo was his favorite. The photo capturing the movement held so much motion even in the still frame, the movements he was making clearly telegraphed. The lines of his body were clear, even through the uniform, and he had some dustings and patches of dirt showing how hard he had played during the game. When he zoomed in on his face, he could see a flicker of joy and relief in Alec’s eyes as he sent the ball flying away from him and the barest upturn in his parted lips. 

_He’s beautiful...I’m screwed._

***

He finished up rehearsals around 5:30 the next day. Catarina and Ragnor had asked him to stay so they could hang out after the meeting, but he insisted that he already had plans.

He arrived a few minutes early in front of Alec’s house. He quickly scarfed down the granola bar he brought with him since he hadn’t had the chance to eat before getting there. He pulled down the visor and looked in the mirror. He took a small tissue from his glove box and fixed where his eye makeup had smudged. He tilted his head to look at his hair to make sure it wasn’t messed up from rehearsals. Under the heat of the stage lights he could get sweaty and make his hair droopy, but for right now he deemed that it looked fine. He took a deep breath, then pulled out his chapstick and applied a quick coat before checking the time.

 _At least now I’ll be fashionably early_ , he thought. _Rather than pathetically early._

He got out of the car and grabbed his bag before heading up to the door of the Lightwood residence. He knocked and only had to wait about a minute before the door opened. The woman who answered was a few inches shorter than him, somewhere in her mid-forties, and bore a clear resemblance to Alec. 

“Hi,” he said. “I’m here to see Alec?”

She smiled pleasantly at him, but eyed him up and down.

“Of course, you must be Magnus,” she said as she pulled the door open. “I’m Maryse, but Alec’s friends all call me ‘Alec’s Mom’. Come on in. Are you hungry?”

“Uhm,” he said, suddenly unsure of himself. “No, I’m okay.”

“If you’re sure. We just finished dinner not too long ago if you change your mind,” she said as he followed her. “Magnus is an unusual name. Is that your real name?”

“Yes,” he answered. “My family has a long tradition of coming up with names from antiquity. Funnily enough, I was actually pretty close to being called Alexander, but my father decided to give me his title in Latin instead, since ‘magnus’ means ‘great’.”

“Maybe that’s just what he thought you were,” she said kindly. “That you’re great.”

Magnus smiled at that.

She guided him through to the dining room, where Alec was sitting with a young boy and some papers. They looked up from what they were doing as they entered the room.

“Magnus,” Alec said as a means of greeting. “Perfect timing, we were just finishing up.”

He helped the boy gather up the papers.

“We’ll leave you boys to it,” Maryse said as she gently guided the boy, presumably Alec’s brother, out of the dining room.

Magnus sat down across from Alec and put his bag on the chair next to him, pulling out a notepad and a pen. 

“So,” Alec said, “how was your day?”

“Pretty good. I’m doing the school play in a few weeks, so I came here straight from rehearsals.”

“Cool,” he said. “What’s the play?”

“A classic, _Midsummer Night’s Dream_. I’m playing Bottom, though usually I’m more of a top.”

Magnus winced as soon as he said it. Alec’s eyes went wide.

“Sorry,” he said. “Bad joke we make. Truly a sign that theater rots your brain.”

Thankfully Alec laughed it off and Magnus felt his chest unclench.

“Enough about me though,” Magnus said as he lifted up his pen and put it to paper. “We’re here to talk about you.”

Alec shifted uncomfortably in his chair at that.

“Getting straight to business,” Alec said stiffly.

“We don’t have to,” Magnus said hurriedly, setting down the notepad. “We can just talk.”

Alec shook his head and said, “No! It’s okay. I guess I’m just not used to this kind of thing. People usually go to Jace for this kind of thing. He’s the big star after all.”

Magnus shrugged. 

“I guess I’m not everybody. I noticed you were right away,” Magnus said before he caught himself. “And how good you are. At baseball. Plus you were on the swim team too. And archery, something I didn’t even know we had, so clearly you should have been interviewed way before this.”

Magnus had thoroughly enjoyed what he had seen of pictures he had found of Alec on the swim team. While most pictures were either mainly focused on Jace or group pictures, there were a few solo shots of Alec as well. He liked what he saw.

“You did your homework,” Alec said, eyes catching Magnus’.

Magnus’ breath caught in his throat for a moment.

“Of course,” he said. “I wouldn’t be a very good interviewer if I went in completely blind. Just let me know when you’re ready.”

“I’m ready,” Alec said as he sat up straighter in his chair.

“We’ll start with some basic questions,” Magnus said. “How old are you?”

“Eighteen,” Alec said. “My birthday is right at the start of the school year.”

“When’s your birthday?” Magnus asked as he wrote.

“September twelfth.”

“So you’re the Virgin.”

Alec sputtered for a moment and Magnus realized what he said.

“A Virgo,” Magnus explained. “Sorry, my mom was really into astrology and she always just called it ‘the Virgin’.”

“Right,” Alec said, shoulders still tensed up. “Are you into that kind of stuff?”

Magnus shook his head. “No, but I still remember it because my mom liked it. Like, I’m the Goat, a Capricorn.”

“And what does that mean?” Alec asked.

“Capricorns are supposed to be very business-like and responsible,” Magnus said. “Clearly, that’s exactly how I turned out.”

Alec chuckled, relaxing again. 

“And what about Virgos?”

“Practical,” Magnus said. “Methodical and hard-working. Does that sound like you?”

“I guess,” Alec said with a shrug. “At least I try.”

“And trying is half the battle,” Magnus said. “So I know you mentioned a sister, was that your brother?”

“Yeah, I’m the oldest of three. Isabelle is two years younger than me and Max is nine.”

Magnus nodded, writing down the answers.

“And,” Magnus said slowly. “Do you have a girlfriend?”

Alec shifted in his seat and asked, “What kind of question is that?”

“These are just the normal questions we ask everybody, for background information,” Magnus said quickly.

“No,” Alec responded. “I’m totally single.”

Magnus couldn’t help the small smile that found its way onto his face.

“Cool,” he said as he wrote ‘SINGLE’.

The interview went relatively smoothly after that. He even managed to get Alec smiling through a lot of it. He watched Alec’s enthusiasm as he talked about archery and all of the details he didn’t understand about things like bow tension and the various types of arrows. He felt a twinge of sadness that not enough people knew how passionate he could be as he wrote down little details he didn’t really get but would absolutely Google later.

 _He’s so cute when he’s not stalking around and brooding behind Jace_ , he thought.

He spoke a lot more with his hands than he had anticipated. The more excited he was about the topic, the more he spoke with his hands, sometimes almost acting out the motions with his whole upper body. He mimed out pulling back an arrow and aiming, as if he could show Magnus right then and there what he was talking about.

“I’d love to get to see you actually do that stuff,” Magnus told him.

“That would be great!” Alec exclaimed. “Sometimes we meet on the weekends and go out to the edge of the city to go shooting. It would be really cool for you to come!”

“I don’t really know anything about how to shoot arrows.”

“I could teach you! I got my level two instructor certification last year and I’ve been told I’m a pretty good teacher. It’ll be a lot of fun!”

Magnus felt a twinge of heat rise up to his cheeks.

“I’d like that, Alexander.”

Magnus heard his phone go off. He held up a finger and checked the screen to see a text from his father asking when he was coming home as well as the time.

“Woah,” Magnus said. “Time flies! We’ve been talking for like two and a half hours.”

“Has it been that long?” Alec asked incredulously. “I shouldn’t really keep you any longer then. Did you get everything you needed?”

Magnus swallowed and said, “Yeah, I think so. We can always pick back up the interview later though.”

Alec nodded, his eyes locked with Magnus’. “Yeah, we could do that.”

Magnus packed up his stuff and Alec walked him out to his car.

“Gosh,” Alec said, looking up into the night sky. “I didn’t even realize how dark it got.”

“Yeah, the time really got away from us,” Magnus agreed.

“Hey,” Alec said turning to Magnus. “Do you know the constellations?” 

Magnus nodded, and Alec asked, “So where’s Capricorn?”

“Well,” Magnus said, stepping closer to Alec. “You can’t really see either of our signs right now. You should be able to see Cancer, but it’s kind of faint and there’s too much light pollution to see it in the city. But, if you look up over there, you can just make out Canus Minor.”

He put his hand on Alec’s shoulder to orient him correctly and pointed up toward where the constellation was.

“I don’t see anything,” Alec said, his voice barely more than a whisper.

Magnus got closer so he could see exactly where he was pointing. He was close enough that he could smell the faint whiff of Alec’s shampoo and the way it played off of his natural aroma.

_He smells warm, like a campfire. Woodsy._

“Just there,” Magnus said softly near Alec’s ear. “Do you see those really bright stars? How they almost make a perfect triangle?”

“Yeah,” Alec said under his breath.

“And then just there,” Magnus said, pointing a little farther down. “That star there? They make up Canus Minor. It’s supposed to be one of Orion’s dogs.”

“Four stars?” Alec said incredulously. “Four stars make a dog?”

“It’s a very small dog,” Magnus joked. “Though considering how far apart those stars actually are, it’s probably a huge dog.”

Alec laughed and turned to face Magnus. They were still standing close, but Magnus didn’t want to move farther away. Alec’s eyes were locked onto his and he took in a deep breath. Suddenly, he raised up his hand to Magnus, as if to shake it. Magnus broke the eye contact to look down at his hand before reaching to take it.

‘Thank you, Magnus,” Alec said. “For the great interview. And for showing me the silliest constellation.”

“They’re all silly constellations,” Magnus told him. “I have no clue why the Greeks thought my constellation even looks like a goat. It just kind of looks like a big wonky triangle to me. But I had a lot of fun tonight. Thank you for letting me interview you.”

Alec smiled, their hands still joined. “I’m not sure if you got anything out of it, but I’ll keep an eye out for it in the school paper.”

Magnus’ throat went dry for a second before he squeaked out, ”Yeah, I hope it makes the cut.”

Alec gently let go of Magnus’ hand and licked his lips.

“Text me to let me know you got home safe, okay?” Alec said.

“Yeah,” Magnus whispered, before saying more assuredly, “Yes, I will.”

Magnus got in his car and watched as Alec walked back inside his house. Magnus bit his lip, then pulled out his phone.

 **Magnus** **  
****8:59PM** **  
****Do u know any1 on the school newspaper??**

Magnus started his car and drove home, controlling his breath. He heard his phone go off just as he pulled into his driveway back home.

 **Biscuit** **  
****9:08PM** **  
****Yea my friend Simon. Whats up**  
Magnus sighed happily.

 **Magnus** **  
****9:09PM** **  
****Can I ask u a big favor???**

***

 **Magnus** **  
****3:12PM** **  
****So I just got ahold of my editor. looks like they’ll let me have 250words + a pic I took from the game**

 **Alexander** **  
****3:13PM** **  
****That’s still super cool!! Thank you so much, Magnus!**

Magnus smiled at the text. It had been about two weeks since the interview and he finally was able to get in good enough with Clary’s friend Simon to secure a small spot on the school’s newspaper. It had also been about two weeks of daily texting between him and Alec. Not about anything in particular, but whatever had caught their attentions at the time or just about their days or their lives. He got to hear all the latest baseball gossip, his sister’s current secret crush that he was super annoyed she wouldn’t tell him about, and about the small things he had observed throughout the day. One thing that he’d learned about Alec over the time they had been texting was that he liked animals. He now had a plethora of pictures Alec had taken of various wildlife and sent to him.

Clary watched him out of the corner of her eye. She was sitting rather pointedly in front of her computer, sorting through pictures she had taken through the week.

“What?” he said more than asked.

“You are being weird,” Clary said.

“I’m not being ‘weird’,” Magnus denied. “I’m just eccentric. You of all people should know this by now, Biscuit.”

“No,” she insisted. “You’re being weird. First the texts last night asking to get an interview with _Alec Lightwood_ of all people, and now you’re smiling at your phone like...I don’t know. You’re in love with it or something.”

“I’m eighteen, Biscuit,” Magnus said coyly. “Obviously I’m in love with my phone.”

“I’m pretty sure he’s straight, Magnus,” she said disapprovingly. “He dated Lydia Branwell, like, all the way through middle school till Sophomore year or something.”

“You say that like I don’t also date girls,” Magnus said. “A man can enjoy more than one flavor of ice cream, my dear.”

“Have you met Alec Lightwood?” she asked. “I don’t even think that guy likes ice cream. I think he likes having a big stick up his butt.”

“You say that like that doesn’t work in my favor,” Magnus said, raising his brow suggestively. She rolled her eyes at that.

“I just don’t want you to get hurt,” she said. “Or disappointed when you realize that I’m right”

“I don’t have any ulterior motives,” Magnus blatantly lied. “What, am I not allowed to make new friends?”

“With Alec? Yeah. I’m not even sure why Jace is friends with him. He’s not exactly a people person.”

Just then his phone went off.

 **Alexander** **  
****3:16PM** **  
****It’s pretty exciting, we get to stay the night at a motel next Friday for our away game.**

Magnus smirked, seeing the direct evidence that Alexander Lightwood could make friends right in front of his face.

 **Magnus** **  
****3:17PM** **  
****Oooo, that’s super cool! Do you have to share rooms?**

 **Alexander** **  
****3:17PM** **  
****Yeah. Unfortunately, I’m bunked up with Jace. Guaranteed no sleep.**

Of all people, he had never expected Alec to send him emojis, but the dizzy eyed little yellow icon was proof to the contrary.

 **Magnus** **  
****3:18PM** **  
****What, is he one of those people that likes to talk late into the night during sleepovers?**

 **Alexander** ****  
**3:19PM** **  
****No, he has THE LOUDEST snores ever. You can feel the walls shaking when Jace Herondale sleeps.**

Magnus let a small laugh through his nose. Clary bit the inside of her cheek.

“I just don’t want to see you hurt again, Magnus.”

Magnus turned to her and looked at her fondly.

“You're too sweet for this world, Biscuit. I’ll be fine, I promise. Alec Lightwood is not going to break my heart. Anyway, I’ve got to get to work on this.”

***

The next week in the school paper on the second page ran a miniaturized version of Magnus’ favorite picture of Alec from the baseball game and the truncated article. Magnus had to share credit on it with Simon since otherwise it wouldn’t have run at all, but it was worth it to see Alec getting a little bit of the spotlight Magnus knew he deserved.

_“Alec Lightwood Knocks It Out Of The Park”_

_by Magnus Bane and Simon Lewis_

_Alec Lightwood, a senior and co-captain of the baseball team, vice captain of the swim team, and captain of the archery club, sat down with us for an interview to talk about the various clubs he participates in here at the Institute.  
_ _Magnus: So what drove you to join so many sports clubs?  
_ _Alec: Well, I’ve always enjoyed keeping active. And I’m pretty competitive, so sports is a really great way to go out there and keep healthy and play together on a team. I’m really looking forward to this baseball season. I think we’ve got a pretty good chance to beat the Edom Devils this year. We got pretty close last year, we only lost by one run. This year, we’re going to really give them a run for their money.  
_ _M: The swim team is over for the time being, but it seems like the archery team is an ongoing thing.  
_ _A: Yeah, right now the archery team is too small to qualify for any competitions, but it is a great hobby and students can still enter individual competitions.  
_ _M: How do you balance your schoolwork with all of your activities?  
_ _A: It takes a lot of hard-work and dedication, but they’re all things I love doing. When you enjoy something, you find the time to do what you have to do so you can go out and do that thing._

_For more information on how to join any of the aforementioned teams, please contact Coach Garroway._


	2. Chapter 2: Damn, I Miss You Tonight

**Alexander** **  
** **12:11PM** **  
** **I saw the article, it’s super cool!**

Magnus let the tiniest smile flicker across his face. As far as he was concerned, the article had been an overwhelming success. Even if his friends were being pricks about it. Not pricks, actually, but annoying.

“Are you really sure that you want people to start talking about you again?” Catarina asked him.

“They aren’t talking about that kind of stuff,” Magnus said dismissively. “It’s just a small interview with one of the jocks. It’s not like the photo has him spreadeagle. Besides, I put my name out there all the time, it’s kind of a key factor in being a member of the drama club.”

“Yes,” Ragnor said. “Except usually most of the student body doesn’t bother to come to school plays. The Institute posts the school newspaper everywhere, and when they see your name in it, they’ll probably be thinking, ‘Wait, I’ve heard that name before!’”

Magnus rolled his eyes, the half dozen anti-bullying rallies the school had been forced to attend his sophomore year coming unbidden into his mind. He ignored them as he typed out his reply with his phone out onto his lap under the table. While the Institute’s ‘No Cellphones’ policy was less enforced during lunch break, some teachers still would take it if you were too blatant with it.

**Magnus** **  
** **12:14PM** **  
** **I’m glad you like it, Alexander. It’s definitely been interesting having people recognize my name for something.**

**Alexander** **  
** **12:14PM** **  
** **My teammates haven’t been a dick to you too, have they?**

Magnus had a moment of panic. If he’s saying ‘too’, that would imply they’ve been giving  _ him _ some heat over the article.

While most of the people who had been really instigated the stuff in sophomore year had been expelled, most everyone still knew about it even if they mainly only talked about it within their own groups.

**Magnus** **  
** **12:14PM** **  
** **No? Should I be worried??**

**Alexander** **  
** **12:15PM** **  
** **I hope not. They’re just assholes.**

Magnus bit his lip. It wasn’t a message that inspired a lot of confidence.

Clary slapped his thigh under the table.

“Dude, Magnus,” she said in a low voice. “What the heck?”

“What? I’m not even doing anything!” Magnus exclaimed.

“I thought we all had a plan,” Catarina said in an exasperated voice. “Laying low till high school is over? Keeping our heads down outside of drama club? Clary says you’re texting that straight boy. All the time. Plus the article.”

“We’re just friends,” Magnus said reassuringly as he looked back down at his phone.

**Magnus** **  
** **12:17PM** **  
** **Did you like the pic?**

**Alexander** **  
** **12:17PM** **  
** **The pic was kind of small, but as far as I could see it was pretty good. You’re a good photographer.**

**Magnus** **  
** **12:17PM** **  
** **I can post them to my insta to make it easy for you to check out**

“Is that why you’re ignoring your friends right in front of you?” Ragnor asked, more annoyance in his tone than usual.

“My friends in front of me are being really paranoid right now,” Magnus stated. “I’m just hoping that they’ll snap out of it. No one even cares about that stuff from so long ago. The tea on me is still cold.”

**Alexander** **  
** **12:18PM** **  
** **Would telling you that I don’t have an insta reveal that I’m actually terrible at being a teenager?**

**Magnus** **  
** **12:18PM** **  
** **For shame!** **  
** Magnus thought for a second, then typed without thinking.

**Magnus** **  
** **12:19PM** **  
** **If you want we could hang out + I can set you up with 1**

Even if Alec didn’t want to hang out again if he was getting harassed, he still wanted to put it out there. 

Catarina sighed. 

“Fine. I’m sorry if we’re being overprotective. We just remember what it was like,” she said. “And we’re worried that people will try to heat the tea back up if they think you’re standing out.”

“And you think I don’t remember what it was like,” Magnus shot back. “Barely anyone brings it up anymore, and if they do, it’s not to my face. If they want to make stuff up behind my back, let them. That’s not my problem.”

He was about to put his phone back in his pocket when it buzzed again.

**Alexander** **  
** **12:21PM** **  
** **Do you want to meet up after school?**

Magnus looked at the date. Thankfully, he didn’t have any club meetings on Wednesdays.

**Magnus** **  
** **12:22PM** **  
** **Yeah, I’m totally free after last period. When/where do you want to meet?**

**Alexander** **  
** **12:22PM** **  
** **Same. Do you want to hang out at yours? It’ll probably be quieter.**

And they would be all alone. Magnus quickly sent him his address.

“I’m skipping our study session tonight,” Magnus told them.

“What?” Clary exclaimed. “But we need to work on stuff that chem test on Friday!”

“I’m doing fine in chemistry,” Magnus said. “And I just want to go home after this. You guys can have fun reading about isotopes without me.”

“You’re being dramatic,” Ragnor said. “Listen, we’re sorry.”

“Have you met me?” Magnus asked. “I’m alway being dramatic. I forgive you, but I’m still going home. I can cram with you after photography tomorrow.”

He had chemistry of a completely different nature to see about after school.

***

“And voila, now you’re on social media, Alexander Lightwood!” Magnus exclaimed.

Alec grinned at him.

“I guess I had to get out of the stone age eventually,” he said as he put his hand on Magnus’ shoulder. “Thanks, for helping me set it up.”

“Of course,” Magnus said, feeling the heat from Alec’s hand radiating through his shirt. “Friends can’t let friends go through life without giving away all of their data to Mark Zuckerberg.”

“Clearly,” Alec said sarcastically. “Now, how do I follow you?”

Magnus was still holding Alec’s phone. In the search bar he typed in his insta handle and requested to follow.

“I keep my insta on private, so I have to accept your follow,” he told him, pulling his phone out and opening the app on his phone.

He hit a few buttons and handed Alec’s phone back to him.

“There,” he said, “now we follow each other.”

Alec grinned as he looked through his profile.

“‘HighWarlock’, huh? Is there something I should know about?” Alec teased.

“Don’t go all DARE on me,” Magnus said. “It’s just a dumb joke from when me and Cat were in 8th grade. Don’t worry, I’m not going out around smoking anything. Scout’s honor.”

Magnus held up three fingers, which made Alec laugh.

“You were a scout?” Alec asked him.

“No, but I’ve eaten enough girl cookies, I should hope I’d at least be an honorary scout by now.”

“Well then,” Alec began, taking his hand off of Magnus’ shoulder and holding up three fingers in return. “As a former scout, I hereby dub you an honorary boy scout.”

“You know, thinking about it, you being a boy scout totally fits.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Alec asked, sounding mock-offended.

“You’ve got the whole good boy, big brother, wholesome family guy vibe,” he explained.

“You don’t know anything,” Alec told him, still clearly joking. “I could have a total bad boy dark side that you don’t even know about. We do learn an awful lot about tying knots.”

Magnus let out a laugh, grabbing Alec by the arms, and exclaimed, “No, not my former boy scout!”

“I’m so sorry,” Alec said, grabbing Magnus back. “Everything you’ve heard about me is true. I once put Jace’s leather jacket in the washing machine after he spilled syrup all over my English essay just before I needed to turn it in for Mrs. Gray’s class. I’m bad to the bone, Magnus.”

“And to think, all this time I’ve been harbouring a hardened criminal like you.”

“And now you’ve opened me up to the world of social media. Now I’ll be getting up to all kinds of cyber crimes like hacking into databases and stealing intellectual property.”

“Not my intellectual property!” Magnus cried out.

Alec leaned forward into Magnus for a moment before he seemed to catch himself. Suddenly he let go of him, pulling his arms away and clearing his throat.

“Uhm, speaking of intellectual property,” Alec began. “You were going to show me the pictures?”

“Right,” Magnus said slowly. 

He bit his lip as he flipped open his laptop and navigated to where he had saved all of the good pictured from that day. Looking through them with Alec sitting right next to him, their arms almost touching, he felt suddenly embarrassed. Probably three-fourths of the pictures were of Alec. Alec scrolled through the pictures before he came across the one that Magnus had used for the article.

“So this is the one you picked?” he asked. “I like it.”

“If you want,” Magnus said, “we could make it your profile picture. If you want.”

Being around Alec made him feel so stupid sometimes. He was afraid he would say the wrong thing. It didn’t help that whenever Alec turned to look at him when they were this close, it felt harder to breathe.

_ This straight boy is going to be the death of me. Why does he have to be so good looking? _

“I’d like that. Show me how.”

Magnus’ fingers brushed up against Alec’s as he showed him how to navigate through the app to change his profile picture. Up this close, he could feel Alec’s breath along the side of his face and the heat radiating from his body.

_ I could lean in to kiss him if I wanted to. _

“And there you, alight32. You’re all set up,” Magnus said softly.

“Thanks. Couldn’t have done it without you.”

“Wouldn’t have done it without me is what you mean,” Magnus corrected with a smirk.

“You’re right,” Alec agreed. “I wouldn’t.”

Alec’s eye caught his. Up this close, he could see the more of the slight green hue to Alec’s hazel eyes and he could clearly see the pale scar in his brow.

“What happened here?” Magnus asked, voice barely above a whisper as his fingers ghosted over Alec’s left eyebrow.

Alec’s hand followed the motion of Magnus’ hand.

“Sports. I think this one was from little league when I was a kid. But you get all kinds of injuries.”

“Any broken bones?” Magnus asked.

“Yeah, I think I’ve broken all of my fingers at some point,” Alec said with a laugh. 

He suddenly took Magnus hand in his and placed his fingers onto the middle finger of his left hand.

“You can’t see it, but this one got pretty badly messed up once,” he explained. “But you can just about feel where it was broken just here.”

Magnus pressed his fingers in gently and felt a barely-there divot in the bone.

“I see what you mean,” he said, his fingertips moving across the skin of Alec’s finger.

There was a sudden knock at the door to Magnus’ bedroom, making them both just about jump out of their skin. Alec pulled his hands away like they were on fire.

“Didn’t mean to startle you, boys,” Asmodeus said as he leaned against the doorframe. “I was just about to make dinner. Are you staying over, Alec?”

“Dinner?” Alec repeated, then looked at the time. “Oh shoot, I told my mom I’d be home by now.”

He got up, rushing to grab his things. 

“Thank you for the offer though, Mr. Bane. I’ll see you around, Magnus!” Alec called as he moved past Asmodeus and towards the front of the house, hastily pulling his shoes on where he had left them by the door. Magnus followed shortly behind him.

“Text me when you get home?” Magnus asked.

Alec looked up at him from where he was shoving his feet into his sneakers. 

“Of course,” Alec said with one of those dazzling smiles of his.

“See you later.”

“Yeah, see ya!” Alec called as he flung himself out the door.

Asmodeus padded up behind Magnus.

“Interesting kid,” he said.

“Yeah,” Magnus agreed. “I think so.”

***

Magnus manages to catch Alec just as he’s walking up to the bus that will take the baseball team to the next town over for their away game.

“Hey,” Magnus said, slightly out of breath from jogging up to meet him.

Alec doesn’t seem to mind though, giving him a big grin, meeting him part way away from the rest of the team.

“Hey!” he exclaimed.

“I just wanted to catch you, before you left,” Magnus said. “To wish you good luck.”

Alec looked delighted.

“Thank you, that means a lot. It’s pretty exciting, we usually don’t get to stay overnight, but since it’s on a Saturday and it’s an early game, they’re letting us go.”

“It’s really cool,” Magnus agreed. “Too bad I never joined any sports. Drama club doesn’t exactly do away shows.”

Suddenly Alec’s name was being called. Magnus looked back at the bus, nearly all loaded up, but with a few faces watching them. Some looked confused, but there were a few sneers as well.

“I should let you go,” Magnus said.

“I’ll text you when we get there?” Alec offered.

Magnus couldn’t help but feel his chest swell at that.

“Yeah,” he said. “I’d like that.”

Later that night, he was just on the edge of sleep when he felt his phone vibrate under his pillow. He started up, then reached and grabbed it to see who the hell would be texting him this late.

**Alexander** **  
** **11:53PM** **  
** **Are you still up?**

Magnus rubbed his face and took a few quick breaths to wake himself up.

**Magnus** **  
** **11:54PM** **  
** **Yeah. Can’t sleep?**

**Alexander** **  
** **11:54PM** **  
** **Jace could wake up coma patients, I swear.**

**Alexander** **  
** **11:54PM** **  
** **I can only look through instagram to try to distract myself for so long.**

**Magnus** **  
** **11:55PM** **  
** **What, is my gram not interesting enough for you?**

**Alexander** **  
** **11:55PM** **  
** **I love your pictures. You do so many interesting things. Literally, all I want to do is be able to sleep.**

Magnus chuckled, then thought for a moment. He went to his Spotify and pulled up one of the playlists he had started making ages ago, back when he was dealing with the fallout of everything that happened three years ago. He hit the share button and sent it to Alec through the messenger.

**Magnus** **  
** **11:56PM** **  
** **If you have headphones, I find music helps me some of the time when I can’t sleep.**

When Alec didn’t respond back for a few minutes, Magnus figured he must have decided to try to sleep, but then his phone went off again.

**Alexander** **  
** **12:01AM** **  
** **It’s pretty.**

Magnus smiled at that, half tempted to send back a super cheesy ‘You’re pretty’, but knowing better than doing so.

**Alexander** **  
** **12:02AM** **  
** **What else do you do when you can’t sleep?**

Magnus could only think of one off the top of his head, but he knew sending that would absolutely push Alec away.

**Magnus** **  
** **12:03AM** **  
** **Other stuff.**

**Alexander** **  
** **12:03AM** **  
** **Being coy?**

**Alexander** **  
** **12:03AM** **  
** **You can tell me**

Magnus bit his lip, shaking his head.

**Magnus** **  
** **12:04AM** **  
** **You’ll think I’m a freak**

**Alexander** **  
** **12:04AM** **  
** **I don’t think you’re a freak.**

**Alexander** **  
** **12:04AM** **  
** **If either of us is a freak, it’s definitely me, lol**

**Magnus** **  
** **12:05AM** **  
** **Promise you won’t freak out?**

**Alexander** **  
** **12:05AM** **  
** **Promise!**

Magnus took a deep breath and typed it out and hit send before he could lose his nerve.

**Magnus** **  
** **12:06AM** **  
** **I get off.**

When he didn’t get a response for a minute, he flipped over, burrowing his face into his pillow and groaning.

_ I messed everything up. _

He knew that it would freak Alec out, promise or not. If he wasn’t going to sleep well before, he certainly wasn’t now, seeing as all he could think about was what an idiot he was.

Suddenly his phone buzzed against his hand. He flipped himself back over and read the message.

**Alexander** **  
** **12:08AM** **  
** **You think that will really work?**

Magnus’ breath caught in his throat. The thought of Alec touching himself after Magnus suggested it sent a sudden wave of arousal straight to his crotch.

**Magnus** **  
** **12:08AM** **  
** **It works for me.**

Magnus ran his hand down his chest, closing his eyes and trying to imagine Alec at this very moment. He would have been in some motel somewhere, on a crappy twin mattress somewhere four feet away from Jace, who apparently snored like a mac truck. But in his mind’s eye, Alec was alone. He could just imagine him, doing like he was doing. He ran his fingers over his nipples, feeling the sensation through his shirt and thought of Alec doing the same. His hand went down lower to the waistband of his pajama bottoms, dipping his fingertips just inside. He could already feel how hard he was getting, without even having started touching himself.

His phone went off. He stared at it for a moment, not comprehending the words he saw.

**Alexander** **  
** **12:10AM** **  
** **I’m doing it.**

His mouth felt dry at those three words. He typed back quickly with his left hand, starting to put his right hand to work. He stroked slowly with his dry hand, pulling gently and imagining Alec doing the same miles away.

**Magnus** **  
** **12:10AM** **  
** **Me too**

**Alexander** **  
** **12:11AM** **  
** **I guess I’ll let you know if it works**

Magnus’ breath caught in his throat, continuing to work the shaft of his cock. He quickened his pace as he thought about Alec, in a post orgasmic haze texting him about how he came.

**Magnus** **  
** **12:11AM** **  
** **Yeah, I can too**

**Alexander** **  
** **12:12AM** **  
** **At least I can feel good for now, even if I can’t sleep**

Magnus shut his mouth tight so he couldn’t let out a moan. The last thing he needed was his father walking in to check on him to find him jerking off to text messages.

**Magnus** **  
** **12:12AM** **  
** **Yeah, it does feel good**

He felt lame the second he sent it, but only a few moments later he got a text back.

**Alexander** **  
** **12:13AM** **  
** **How do you usually deal with the mess afterward?**

The thought of Alec covered in his own cum and texting him on what to do about it is enough to push Magnus over the edge. He took a moment to catch his breath, then messaged back.

**Magnus** **  
** **12:14AM** **  
** **I keep tissues by my bed. What are you doing?**

Magnus wiped himself off, throwing each spent tissue in the general vicinity of where his waste bin was.

**Alexander** **  
** **12:15AM** **  
** **I had to get up and wash off. It got everywhere.**

Magnus bit his lip and felt his cock twitch in spite of the fact that he literally just finished.

**Magnus** **  
** **12:15AM** **  
** **Do you want to hear something gross?**

**Alexander** **  
** **12:15AM** **  
** **What?**

**Magnus** **  
** **12:15AM** **  
** **When its late like this, I usually don’t bother to get up and wash my hands**

**Alexander** **  
** **12:16AM** **  
** **So you just go to sleep with sticky hands and get them all over your bed?**

**Magnus** **  
** **12:16AM** **  
** **I guess so?**

**Alexander** **  
** **12:16AM** **  
** **I’m pretty sure I sat on your bed when we hung out.**

Magnus felt conflicted. On the one hand, the idea of Alec sitting on his cum was really hot. But also, it felt gross, like a violation, and the text didn’t make it clear enough how Alec felt about it.

**Magnus** **  
** **12:17AM** **  
** **I guess I never really thought about it. I’m sorry if you’re grossed out.**

**Alexander** **  
** **12:18AM** **  
** **Looks like I’ve been soiled by Magnus Bane.**

**Magnus** **  
** **12:18AM** **  
** **Hey, I’m not out here soiling anyone!**

Magnus’ phone didn’t go off for a time, and he was just drifting back off when it buzzed. He forced his eyes back open and couldn’t think of anything to respond when he read the words.

**Alexander** **  
** **12:22AM** **  
** **What if I like being soiled by you?**

He didn’t get to send his reply back before sleep overtook him.

***

**Magnus** **  
** **8:22AM** **  
** **I’d like it too**

Magnus stares down at the text he had sent in the morning when he woke up. He hadn’t heard from Alec all day after sending, and now he was getting worried he had freaked him out. It was one thing to text weird stuff late at night when you’re not thinking straight. It was something completely different to send that stuff in the morning.

As the hours stretched on, Magnus wavered between being convinced that he was too busy to respond since the game was today and whether or not he had finally scared off Alec for good. It was nearly four in the afternoon when his phone went off.

Instead of being greeted to a text message, it was a picture.

Alec had sent him a selfie. He couldn’t really think of anything less like Alec than taking a selfie, but here he had the proof.

It looked like it had been taken on the bus. In the background, he could see all of Alec’s excited teammates in various positions of celebration. But right in the foreground and taking up the majority of the frame was Alec’s dirt speckled face. He had on a huge grin as he looked directly at the camera.

_ As goofy as he looks, he’s still as ridiculously photogenic as ever. _

**Magnus** **  
** **3:58PM** **  
** **You guys won??**

**Alexander** **  
** **3:59PM** **  
** **Always! We’re the best!**

**Magnus** **  
** **3:59PM** **  
** **Too true. Heading back now?**

**Alexander** **  
** **4:00PM** **  
** **Yeah, we’re going to get pizza to celebrate before they drop us back off at the school**

**Magnus** **  
** **4:00PM** **  
** **Have fun and get home safe!**

**Alexander** **  
** **4:00PM** **  
** **Will do. I’ll text you when I get home**

Magnus reread the text and went back to the picture. He bit his lip to hold back from smiling.

_ At least I know he doesn’t hate me. _

***

On and off over the weekend they sent messages back and forth. Nothing like what happened on Friday night.

Monday morning at school, it was almost like they were back to being strangers. They didn’t run in the same social circles and they didn’t have any of the same classes, instead only occasionally walking past each other in the hallways of the Institute. Any casual watcher would think that they didn’t know each other at all, but Magnus saw him every time, and Alec saw him back. There weren’t any words exchanged, instead their eyes would lock for a moment and he could see the corners of Alec’s lift just barely upturn before they each continued in their respective directions to wherever they were heading.

Magnus got his first text of the day from Alec during lunch. He had been casually unpacking his lunch bag at their usual table when he heard it go off.

**Alexander** **  
** **12:03PM** **  
** **Your makeup looks really nice today.**

Magnus’ eyes widened and he could barely contain his grin. He couldn't remember the last time someone complimented his makeup who wasn’t a girl, let alone someone who he was attracted to. Never someone he felt as much attraction to as he did for Alec. His eyes scanned the cafeteria casually, trying to look like he wasn’t looking for anyone in particular when he saw Alec standing in line getting hot food. He was moving his tray along with one hand while he had the other jammed in his hoodie pocket.

**Magnus** **  
** **12:03PM** **  
** **Your hair looks really good today. I like when you sweep it off more to the side like that. It makes it so I can see more of your face.**

He hit send and watched as Alec pulled out his phone, read it for a moment, then brushed his bang more to the side. Magnus bit his lip and tried to play at being casual as Ragnor and Catarina sat down with him. He continued unpacking his meal.

“Have you been practicing your lines, Magnus?” Catarina asked. “Or are you still  _ distracted _ ?”

“I’m a professional, thank you very much, Cat. You are going to be knocked on your butt with how good my acting is going to be. This Bottom is going to be on top.”

“You had better be at the top of your game,” Ragnor warned. “This is the last production of our high school careers and it debuts in less than three weeks. There’s no telling if we’ll ever get the chance to do something like this again with each other.”

Magnus sighed. “I’m not getting distracted. I’m focused. I practice just about every day. Can half of our castmates say the same thing?”

“They can’t,” Catarina chimed in, “but they also aren’t you, Magnus. It takes a very good actor to play a bad actor. If you don’t nail it, it won’t work.”

Magnus felt annoyed at his friends’ lack of confidence in him. Sure, he had sent a few texts to Alec during some of their rehearsals, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t dedicated to the production or trying his hardest to nail every line. And other people were on their phones all the time during rehearsals. But he saw their point. He looked to see Alec sitting at his normal table with his other friends.

_ He is...incredibly distracting. _

Alec’s eye caught his and he suddenly got an idea.

**Magnus** **  
** **12:11PM** **  
** **Are you doing anything after 7?**

***

“I’ll be honest,” Alec said as he watched Magnus, “when you asked me to come over, I wasn’t really expecting this.”

“What were you expecting?” Magnus teased as he laid out on his bed.

Alec looked away, his cheeks beginning to tint pink.

“I don’t know. It’s not...this isn’t...I’ve never done this before.”

Alec rubbed his neck nervously and said, “Are you really sure you want to be doing this with me?”

“It’s okay,” Magnus assured him. “Just trust me. And relax, I’ll be doing most of the work.”

Alec nodded and said, “Okay. I trust you.”

He sat down in the computer chair across from Magnus’ bed and flipped to the page Magnus had marked.

He knew that he had Bottom’s dream down pat, but he wanted a fresh set of eyes that wasn’t one of his cast mates ready to criticize every line in only the way that someone who has been memorizing the play backwards and forwards could do. He began the scene laying down, pretending to sleep before jumping up as if startled awake. He acted through the scene, adding in comedic pauses as he deemed necessary. He did a little bow when he was finished and Alec clapped.

“That was really good!” Alec exclaimed. “I don’t get what they were talking about if they’re worried.”

“Oh, I don’t really think that it’s actually about my performance,” Magnus said, annoyed. “They’re convinced that I’m...whatever.”

Alec looked at him confused.

“I don’t understand.”

Magnus sighed, and began, “Do you remember that stuff? That happened when we were lower classmen?”

Alec thought for a moment before he began to speak.

“Yeah, kinda. I remember people talking about how you had been dating that senior chick in freshman year.”

“Yeah,” Magnus confirmed, his throat feeling tight as he said it.

“Right,” Alec said. “And then on the first day of sophomore year, there were...pictures going around.”

“Yeah, the pictures,” Magnus said as he plopped down on the edge of his bed.

“I, uh,” Alec said as his cheeks began to turn pink. “I only saw one of them.”

“Sorry,” Magnus said.

“Don’t apologize,” Alec told him. “It wasn’t your fault. Besides, it was pretty clear you weren’t even the one who took the picture I saw. Based on your--the...position.”

Magnus groaned and put his face in his hands. There was nothing quite like the continued humiliation of having compromising pictures that the girl who dumped you took and sent to people all over your high school. He felt the bed shift next to him and a hand rub soothing circles on his back. Magnus lifted his head up and looked at Alec, who was looking at him reassuringly.

“It’s just embarrassing,” Magnus said. “Basically all of the upperclassmen, and probably some of the lowerclassmen at this point, have seen me like, you know,  _ that _ stuff of me. I’m long over the actual break up and everything. It’s literally just being reminded all the time that those pictures exist.”

“Okay,” Alec said. “But I don’t get it. What does that have to do with me?”

Magnus let out a careful breath. “It was a really, really rough time. My friends who were there for me and supported me when all that stuff happened. They’re worried that--if we were to--that people would just drag all that stuff back up. And it would be like sophomore year all over again.”

“I,” Alec began with a stammer, “I didn’t know your friends knew about…”

“They’ve made a lot of assumptions,” Magnus assured him. “They don’t know that we aren’t, or, that we haven’t...I just told them we’re friends.”

“My friends don’t know either,” Alec said. “They’re also making a lot of...assumptions. But I think that they think I’m dating some girl who goes to a different school or something.”

_ They wouldn’t assume the same things about you after the article, _ Magnus thought.  _ Because you’re not out. _

Alec hadn’t said he was bi, or gay, or anything like that, but at this point Magnus wasn’t sure he needed to. Magnus put his arm around Alec and brought him into a half hug. Alec responded by taking the hand that had been on Magnus’ shoulder and bringing it around him and leaning to rest his head on Magnus’ shoulder. Magnus rested his head on top of Alec’s and just enjoyed being close to him. Alec shifted and brought his other arm around to Magnus’ front, his fingers curling around the collar of Magnus’ shirt.

His face was so close to Magnus’. Magnus lifted his head and Alec followed him. He looked in Alec’s eyes, which were searching for something from Magnus. 

“You said,” Alec began quietly, eyes fixed on Magnus, “that we ‘aren’t’.”

“Or that we haven’t,” Magnus softly replied.

He hoped that Alec heard the quiet part.  _ Yet. We haven’t yet. _

Magnus tilted his face towards Alec’s and Alec must have taken that as the sign. He brought their mouths crashing together. Though Alec’s lips felt inexperienced against his, he could also feel the passion and desire in the kiss. Magnus brought his own hand up to Alec’s neck, rubbing his fingertips gently and encouragingly. The heat of the kiss was almost overwhelming. He broke the kiss and took a deep breath, looking into Alec’s eyes for a moment. There was something needy and desperate there that took Magnus off-guard. Alec moved back in, capturing his lips again with just as much fervor. Magnus parted his lips and gently sucked on Alec’s lower lip. This elicited a small moan out of him and he moved in closer, his chest pressed in against Magnus. 

“Alexander,” Magnus murmured against his lips.

A low humming sound came from Alec and Magnus broke the kiss.

“We should probably cool off,” Magnus told him.

Alec panted against his lips for a moment before giving a curt nod.

“Yeah,” he agreed. “You’re probably right.”

He didn’t move away though.

“‘To say the truth’,” Magnus quoted, “‘reason and love keep little company together nowadays’.”

“What?” Alec asked as he shifted away to get a better look at Magnus.

“Play rehearsing,” he said, trying to even out his voice. “Maybe we should go back to talking like a couple of DWEMs. That’ll help with anything that may have, um, come up.”

Alec cleared his throat and the two of them separated.

“Yeah. Yes, okay. Rehearsing.”

***

Magnus was laying in bed after Alec had left for the night. Even though it had been hours since they had kissed, his body still felt primed and ready to go. It wasn’t a position or a feeling he had let himself feel in a long time, that itching craving feeling to be close to another person. It wasn’t the kind of feeling he had when he just had a crush on Alec, when he just wanted to sit and admire his amazingly toned ass for ages. Magnus held his phone over his face in the dark and typed the message while he was still feeling it.

**Magnus** **  
** **10:47PM** **  
** **I like you**

Magnus plopped his phone onto his chest, feeling anxious for reasons he couldn’t explain. He felt the phone buzz and fumbled to pick it back up to read the message.

**Alexander** **  
** **10:48PM** **  
** **I really like you too.**

**Magnus** **  
** **10:49PM** **  
** **I really like kissing you**

**Alexander** **  
** **10:49PM** **  
** **I wish I was kissing you now.**

Magnus could feel his chest tightening and he let his hand wander downward.

**Magnus** **  
** **10:50PM** **  
** **Where?**

Magnus took himself in his hand, thinking about Alec’s kiss-swollen lips and the way he had moaned when Magnus had sucked his lip.

**Alexander** **  
** **10:50PM** **  
** **Everywhere.**

Magnus let out a shuddering breath as he imagined what it would be like to have Alec’s lips  _ everywhere _ .

**Alexander** **  
** **10:51PM** **  
** **I’d start with your lips though.**

**Magnus** **  
** **10:51PM** **  
** **That’s a good start. You’re a really good kisser**

**Alexander** **  
** **10:52PM** **  
** **I want to kiss you again.**

**Magnus** **  
** **10:52PM** **  
** **I would let you.**

**Magnus** ****  
**10:53PM** **  
** **Everywhere.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, the chapter title taken from "So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings".
> 
> I hope you guys are liking this so far, all comments are appreciated!


	3. Chapter 3: You're Out There Killin' The Game

“What do you think of this one?” Clary asked, tilting her screen to show Magnus one of the shots she had taken at Wednesday’s baseball game.

Magnus leaned over in his chair to look at the picture she was showing him. It captured Jace Herondale, mid-sprint with the bat he had just flung away from himself still in the air. From the angle that she had captured it with him facing dead forward, it almost looked like he was running straight for the camera.

“Very...dynamic,” Magnus said. “A little menacing though, don’t you think?”

“But that’s, like, the point!” Clary exclaimed. “It’s like a display of strength. It’s like a warning to anyone who thinks they could beat the Idris Hunters.”

Magnus pursed his lips, amused. “Sure, it could. Or, since he’s running straight for me, it could be that he’s out for my blood. Maybe keep that one for your personal portfolio.”

“You’re just annoyed that it isn’t your new best friend,” she muttered as she crossed her arms.

Magnus huffed. “He’s a really nice guy when you get to know him.”

“Sure,” she said dismissively. “Because you’re totally unbiased.”

“Like I’m sure you’re totally unbiased about star athlete Jace Herondale over here. That’s why you have your mom drive you out to every game.”

“I like sports! I’m the resident sports photographer!” Clary declared defensively. “It’s my part of what I do for the club!”

Magnus smirked. “Whatever you say, biscuit. Do you have any shots that aren’t super threatening to send to the school paper?”

She huffed, then began scrolling through the pictures she had taken the previous night. As she looked, Magnus typed out a quick text before setting his phone back on the table. 

**Magnus** **  
** **4:26PM** **  
** **I think my friend has a crush on your BFF ;)**

Finally, she pulled up one of the team. From the looks of them, it appeared that they were in a post-game celebration. At the center of the frame, with Alec clapping his hand on his shoulder and smiling, was Jace.

“This one?” Clary asked. She then gave him a sideways glance. “It’s got your favorite, after all.”

“And yours,” Magnus replied.

Clary lowered her voice and asked, “Seriously Magnus, is there something going on with you two? You know you can trust me, right?”

Magnus sighed. He wanted to talk to her. He wanted to tell all of his friends. He hadn’t felt like this about anyone in a long time, not since Camille, but even then that was different. Alec wasn’t like anyone else he knew. He had awoken something in Magnus. While he wasn’t sure what their relationship was going to be yet, he was excited about it. He knew that if he explained it to her, that she would get it, but he couldn’t.

_ I trust her, but it’s not my place. I can’t out Alec. _

“We’re just friends,” Magnus lied reassuringly. “And what about Mr. Star Player? He seems to take up a lot of your film roll here.”

“He’s one of the best players on the team,” she quickly said. “And he’s team captain.”

“Co-captain,” he corrected.

“I know that if he’s in the shot, then I know they’ll use my picture,” she claimed.

“And that’s the only reason.”

“Yes!” she loudly whispered. “Besides, even if I did happen to like him, which I don’t, it would be monumentally stupid to ask him out. I don’t even know why some girls try. And he’s a total jerk. Not in a million years.”

While he certainly wasn’t Magnus’ type since he never had much of a thing for blonds, but he got the appeal. Popular, athletic, and with a famous name, not so many girls had the wherewithal to turn down Jace Herondale. He long had a reputation for being a womanizer at the Institute. For almost the entirety of their high school careers, he had a new girl on his arm just about every other week. 

_ He’s probably been with half of the girls at this school and he’s the hometown hero, _ Magnus thought, feeling a twinge of annoyance.  _ But a handful of pictures passed around by one ex makes me a social pariah. _

“Fine,” Magnus conceded. “Whatever you say. Though...”

She glared at him. “What?”

“You know, prom campaigning will be starting soon,” he began. “I bet people would eat up a super cute story about the co-captain of the baseball team and the president of the photography club.”

In spite of her telegraphed annoyance at the idea, he didn’t fail to notice the blush rise up on her cheeks.

“I don’t think so,” she said firmly.

Magnus gave her a knowing smirk. His phone buzzed.

**Alexander** **  
** **4:34PM** **  
** **Crush? BFF? What is this middle school?**

**Alexander** **  
** **4:34PM** **  
** **Who are you trying to play matchmaker for?**

Magnus looked over at Clary who was very pointedly scrolling through her computer.

**Magnus** **  
** **4:34PM** **  
** **I can’t just tell on her like that!**

**Alexander** **  
** **4:35PM** **  
** **You say that like I would ever try to help Jace hook up with anybody. He’s just fine finding trouble on his own.**

“Magnus, we’re supposed to be working,” Clary reminded him.

“I know, I know,” he said, setting down his phone and settling back in front of his computer. “The yearbook committee better be happy. We’ve been working our butts off this year with these pictures.”

“Our senior year yearbook is going to be the best one the Institute has ever had,” Clary said confidently. “I have it on good authority from Simon’s girlfriend.”

“Which one?” Magnus jokingly asked. “You call Jace a player, but that Simon--”

“Hush,” Clary commanded. “Our breakup was mutual and I like Maia. Now, can you stop being the world’s most annoying gossip? We were supposed to be out of here already and I don’t want to be late getting home. My step-dad is making breakfast for dinner.”

They worked for another half an hour before Clary finally declared they were done for the day. As he walked out to his car, his phone went off.

**Alexander** **  
** **5:06PM** **  
** **You’re getting out late.**

Magnus stopped walking and looked around. Off in the distance behind the fence that separated the fields from the rest of the Institute, he could see Alec casually leaning against one of the metal posts with phone in hand. From the looks of it, the baseball team was about to finish up practice for the night.

**Magnus** **  
** **5:06PM** **  
** **I could say the same**

**Alexander** **  
** **5:07PM** **  
** **I wish I could help you study lines again, but I promised my mom I’d be home on time tonight.**

**Magnus** **  
** **5:07PM** **  
** **Tomorrow?**

**Alexander** **  
** **5:07PM** **  
** **Night out with the guys before the game on Saturday. :/**

Magnus thought for a moment, thumb hovering over the keypad. Hesitantly, he typed out the message and hit ‘send’.

**Magnus** **  
** **5:08PM** **  
** **Need some moral support on the sidelines?**

Magnus could see Alec straighten up and look at him in the distance.

**Alexander** **  
** **5:09PM** **  
** **I would love it if you came.**

***

Magnus felt his phone buzz in his pocket and reached down and pulled it out.

“Hey, hey!” Asmodeus exclaimed. “What’s the rule?”

“No phones at the table,” Magnus said in a monotone, sliding the phone back down.

He went back to the meal in front of them. Asmodeus wasn’t much of a chef, but he could make a mean call to the local takeout place.

“Call me old fashioned, but I want to actually spend some time with my only son when we have dinner together,” Asmodeus guilted. “Not my son and his phone.”

“I know, Father.”

They ate in silence for a time before his father spoke up again.

“So how are you doing in pre-calculus?” he asked. “I know math isn’t your strongest subject, and we don’t have too much time before you graduate if we need to get you another tutor.”

“It’s fine, Father. I got a 93 on my last test, but as long as I get a 95 on the next one I’ll be solidly in A territory again,” Magnus told him.

“Good,” he replied. “It’s good to hear that you aren’t letting whoever you’ve been texting all the time get in the way of your studies.”

He looked up from his food to see his father watching him. Asmodeus’ face was always hard to read, his many years of teaching making him accustomed to hiding his true feelings behind a neutral mask. Magnus swallowed.

“School comes first,” Asmodeus continued. “I’m glad you’re not letting a relationship interfere with finishing strong.”

“I know. We both are really serious about school and extracurriculars,” he told him.

“That’s good to hear. Do I know this person that you’re seeing?”

“Uh, yeah,” Magnus replied. “Alec Lightwood. You met him briefly like two weeks ago.”

“He was tall, right? With dark hair?” Asmodeus asked.

“Yes.” 

“And has this been going on for a while?”

“No, it’s all really new.”

Asmodeus nodded solemnly. “But you’re being safe?”

Magnus stared down at his meal. “We’re not--we haven’t--”   
“Good,” he interrupted. “It’s better to not rush into those kinds of things.”

_ Especially after what happened last time _ hung unspoken in the air.

He knew how deeply he had disappointed and concerned his father was over him after his relationship with Camille. He had never approved of her. He didn’t like her attitude, the way she dressed, or the age difference between the two. Magnus hated that his father’s disapproval had only made him all the more eager to get close to her. He knew now that it had come from a place of protectiveness and mistrust of her, but at the time he had felt so stifled by his father’s tight grip over his life and wanted to prove that he somehow knew better and was grown enough to make his own decisions.

“I hope that eventually you’ll humor this old man and invite him to dinner so I can properly get to know him,” his father said.

Magnus cracked a small smile. “I will, Father.”

After they finished eating, Magnus began clearing out the spent containers while his father filled tupperware containers with the leftovers. He finally peeked at the message Alec had sent him.

**Alexander** **  
** **6:02PM** **  
** **I wish you would post more pictures of yourself on instagram. I like getting to see you even when you’re not around.**

Magnus switched over to the camera app and walked over to where his father was in the kitchen. He held up his phone and put his back to Asmodeus, before saying, “Father, smile.”

Asmodeus looked up from what he was doing and saw Magnus was taking a selfie. His lips curled up and Magnus took the picture. He opened up his insta and posted the picture.

**Magnus** **  
** **6:27PM** **  
** **Just posted a pic of me and my dinner date**

Magnus gathered up the remaining takeaway containers and put them in the trash, smashing them down to save space in the can. He felt his phone buzz again in his pocket and washed his hands quickly before checking the message.

**Alexander** **  
** **6:29PM** **  
** **That wasn’t funny, I nearly had a heart attack.**

**Magnus** **  
** **6:29PM** **  
** **Don’t worry you can’t get rid of me that easy Alexander**

“Before I forget,” Magnus said to his father, “I’m not going to be around much tomorrow. I’m going to a thing at school.”

“Alright. For fun or for a club?”

“Assuming I don’t have fun at my clubs?” Magnus teased.

“You know what I mean, Magnus,” he chastised.

“Alec is on the school’s baseball team,” Magnus told him. “I’m going to the game tomorrow to support him.”

Asmodeus observed him for a moment before he spoke, “That’s very sweet. So the other boys on the team are supportive?”

Magnus took a deep breath. “You’re actually the only one who knows. Alec’s not...you know?”

His father mimed zipping his mouth shut. “I understand. I won’t mention it to any of your friends. Though, if you two do get serious, then I would like to meet his parents at some point.”

“Thank you, Father,” Magnus said as he left the dining room and walked up to his room.

**Magnus** **  
** **6:33PM** **  
** **Are you having so much fun with the guys that you needed to check out my insta?**

**Alexander** **  
** **6:34PM** **  
** **I can only pay so much attention to Raj and Jace swapping stories before I just want to gag them.**

Magnus plopped down onto his computer chair, absent-mindedly spinning around as he typed.

**Magnus** **  
** **6:34PM** **  
** **That bad?**

**Alexander** **  
** **6:35PM** **  
** **I can only hear the story about how Raj ALMOST had a threesome so many times.**

Magnus smirked and sent him a throwing up emoji.

**Alexander** **  
** **6:36PM** **  
** **Magnus, boys are gross.**

**Magnus** **  
** **6:36PM** **  
** **Am I gross?**

**Alexander** **  
** **6:37PM** **  
** **No. You’re the exception that proves the rule.**

**Magnus** **  
** **6:38PM** **  
** **I don’t think you’re gross either. You’re too cute to be gross**

**Alexander** **  
** **6:38PM** **  
** **You don’t know that I’m not gross. You haven’t been in my room yet.**

Magnus smiled to himself at that, feeling a small flutter in his stomach.

_ Yet. _

**Magnus** **  
** **6:39PM** **  
** **I guess you’ll just have to prove me wrong sometime, because I’m not convinced that you’re gross**

Magnus grabbed his book bag from where he had dumped it after he had gotten home that day and pulled out his homework for over the weekend. Considering the conversation he and his father had over dinner, he knew now more than ever that he was really going to have to focus his freetime on keeping his grades up. As supportive as his father had seemed, he knew apprehension when he saw it. He remembered how his grades had started to slip when he was seeing Camille, and then how in the aftermath of their breakup and the things that had come with it how his father had almost pulled him from school entirely. Admittedly that was mainly because of the bullying, but Magnus had insisted on staying at the Institute. Transferring schools would have felt like Camille had won, as petty as it sounds. For now though, he needed to prove himself and that he could maintain a relationship and keep up his grades.

_ I can’t let him down again, _ Magnus thought.

**Alexander** **  
** **6:43PM** **  
** **Do you want to come over tomorrow after the game?**

**Magnus** **  
** **6:44PM** **  
** **I’d like that.**

***

Clary side-eyed him as he arrived at the field the next day. Magnus was sure to bring his camera, so if nothing else he had a reasonable cover if people asked him anything about the game, but he knew there wasn’t exactly any way to fool her. He sat down on the bench next to where she was standing.

“You know that with two of us here,” she said, “that it looks like a press junket or something, right?”

“I’m just here to back you up, we are such good friends after all!” Magnus claimed in a faux-defensive voice. “And, of course, to show my school spirit. Go Hunters!”

She rolled her eyes, but Magnus could see the slight upturn on her lips. 

“Right. I should document this overwhelming display of school spirit.”

She turned her camera onto him, made a quick adjustment of the lens, and snapped a few pictures.

“I hope that’s not sarcasm,” Magnus stated. “I even wore our school colors for this.”

“I’m sure they’ll appreciate that you wore black and white eyeliner for this.”

“Isn’t wearing facepaint and makeup a time-honored sporting event tradition?”

The two bantered like that for a time. Magnus had forgotten how boring it was waiting for everything to start. Last time he had just fiddled around on his phone, but having a friend to keep him company was much preferable to him.

_ It’s not like I can even text him right now. He doesn’t keep his phone on him during games. _

He could see the players huddled around and speaking in low voices in their respective dugouts. until the players from both teams lined up and one of the girls from the school choir came out to sing the national anthem. He stood, holding his hand over his heart as his eyes swept across the field. Alec was easy to spot standing with his teammates, nearly half a head taller than most of them. He could hear Clary snapping pictures of the crowd and the players as the choir girl finished up the song. As Alec took his spot at third base, his eye finally caught Magnus’. Though he was too far away to be certain, Magnus would have sworn he could see the smallest smile on Alec’s face.

The top of the inning went fairly standardly, only one player from the away team fully making it around the diamond and scoring a point before they struck out and switched. Raj was the first of the Hunters up first to bat. He let the two pitches fly past him, the umpire shouting something Magnus couldn’t quite hear.

“What is he doing?” Magnus asked Clary.

“It looks like the pitcher isn’t warmed up or something,” Clary explained. “He’s throwing wide.”

Two more balls whizzed past Raj, and he walked to first base. The pitcher kicked the mound he was standing on and started rolling his shoulders and stretching his arms.

“Hopefully the whole game isn’t like this,” Magnus said. “It’ll be a pretty boring game if all that happens is guys just walking around the diamond while the pitcher and umpire play catch.”

The pitcher must have warmed up enough by the time Sebastian came up to bat, with him getting one strike before hitting the ball out towards left field and advancing the two of them by a base. Magnus softly applauded along with the rest of the crowd, then sitting up straighter when he saw Alec coming out onto the pitch to go out to bat.

Alec glimpsed his way, flipping his bat briefly through the air before getting into position. Magnus couldn’t help but let a smile come across his face at the small flourish of his prowess.

Magnus watched as the first ball flew past Alec and he could faintly hear the umpire call out, “Ball one!”

The pitcher geared up to throw the ball again, and the ball went past Alec again. “Strike one!”

Magnus bit his lip and clasped his hands on his lap around his camera. The pitcher hurled the ball again, but this time Alec’s bat met it with a loud  _ crack _ . Magnus released the breath he didn’t realize he had been holding and let out a small cheer as Alec threw down his bat and booked it for first base, then second, and finally third. Raj and Sebastian were able to make it soundly around to home, securing two points and giving the Idris Hunters a nice early lead in the game. He could see Alec taking panting breaths in the distance as he applauded with the rest of the crowd.

The game was well matched, with several innings where neither got any points and one where the rival team was ahead by three points. He hadn’t expected to get as invested in the game as he did, but he found himself cheering along with the rest of the crowd whenever the Hunters scored and cursing under his breath when the away team did. Periodically he would ask Clary questions, since he still wasn’t very certain on all of the rules and nuances of baseball yet. 

“It’s going to be close,” Magnus said to Clary as they went into the bottom of the eighth inning with one point behind.

“The best games are always the close ones,” she told him as she took a quick break to go through some of the photos she had taken over the course of the game. “It’s not as exciting when you’re sure that the team is going to win.”

The bases were loaded up when it was Alec’s turn to go to bat again. Magnus straightened up when he came out, giving him a brief round of applause as he stepped up to the plate. From his bearing, the way he had played during the game, and how dusty and dirty he had become, Magnus knew he was beginning to get worn out.

“C’mon,” Magnus muttered under his breath. “You can do this, Alec.”

He watched as Alec wiped his brow with his sleeve before steeling himself. Even from the distance Magnus was at, he saw the determination almost radiating off of him. Alec got in position and waited for the pitcher. He threw the ball, hard and fast, and Alec met it with just as much force. As he sprinted across the diamond, Magnus realized he didn’t need to run so fast as the ball made it just over the fence on the far side of the field.

Magnus stood up, chest swollen with pride, as he cheered Alec’s home run. When Alec made it over home base, he turned to where Magnus was in the stands, face beaming and hand over his presumably racing heart as he gulped down deep breaths. Beside him, just barely audible over the sound of the cheers of the crowd, he could hear Clary’s camera shuddering.

_ That’s going to make for an amazing photo, _ Magnus knew.

The game finished up not too long after, the Idris Hunters winning by a handful of points. Magnus waited as the stands began to clear out and after the Hunters finished up their post-victory celebrations. Clary observed him as she slowly packed up her equipment.

“Do you need a ride?” she asked.

“No, I’ve got my car,” he informed her. “Just better to wait for when more people clear out, you know?”

She nodded, pulling out her phone. “Alright. Well, my mom is waiting for me in the parking lot. I’ll see you Monday?”

“Yeah.”

He watched her walk off for a moment, trying to eat up as much time as possible before heading out. He knew Alec needed to help pack things away before leaving and he didn’t want to leave to head to his place before him. He fiddled about on his phone for a while, before he felt too weird about hanging around, knowing that he was starting to get some unwanted attention. Just on the periphery of his vision, he could see some of the players starting to stare at him, so he slowly meandered out to his car in the parking lot. As he reached his car door, he heard quick footsteps from behind him. Turning his head around to the noise, he saw Alec jogging over with his bag slung around him to his car parked a few spots away with his eyes locked on Magnus. He offered him one of his dazzling grins and Magnus returned it. Magnus gently tucked his equipment into his backseat and felt his phone go off in his pocket.

**Alexander** **  
** **2:43PM** **  
** **I'm really glad you came.**

Magnus got into the driver's seat and closed the door behind himself before he responded.

**Magnus** ****  
**2:44PM** **  
** **You were amazing Alexander I’m so proud of you.**

Magnus faintly heard Alec’s car start and in his mirror he saw him start to move. Magnus quickly put his phone on the passenger’s seat and followed shortly behind Alec all the way to the Lightwood home. Once there, he got out and went to help Alec take in his equipment into the garage from his car.

“You really pulled it through today, Alexander,” Magnus told him as he took the bag Alec handed him inside.

“Maybe I had some good motivation,” Alec said, “and really wanted to impress somebody.”

“I’m sure whoever they were that they were impressed,” Magnus said coyly. “I know I was.”

Alec gave Magnus a bashful smile before leading him into the house.

“My mom and Max are on a camping trip for scouts,” Alec informed him. “And Izzy is off somewhere with her friends. My dad’s home, but he shouldn’t bother us.”

“And what could he possibly be interrupting if he did?” Magnus asked quietly near Alec’s ear.

Alec turned back to look at him, cheeks pink. He motioned for Magnus to follow him, leading him down the hallway and to his room.

“I, uh, need to take a quick shower,” Alec told him. “But you can hang out in here, if you’d like?”

Magnus nodded, gently taking a seat on the edge of the neatly made bed as Alec quickly grabbed some clothes out of the dresser.

“I’ll be back,” Alec said as he shut the door behind him.

Magnus sighed, then looked around the small room. The walls had been painted with a deep blue that nearly matched the dark blue of the bed spread. He hadn’t been sure if Alec would be a posters or pictures kind of guy, but the collage of photos taped on one of the walls answered that question. He got up and scanned his eyes over them. Some of the people in the pictures he recognized as Alec’s friends from the various teams he was a part of or members of his family. He felt conflicted looking at these snapshots from this sweet all-American boy life that Alec seemed to have lived. He felt amused at some of the sillier photos, pride at the images of him in moments of celebration, and uncomfortable at the pictures he spotted of him kissing or holding Lydia Branwell. He didn’t know how to feel about seeing Alec in romantic situations with his ex and the fact that he kept the photos up on his wall. He moved away from it, instead deciding to focus on the small bookshelf, flipping through some of Alec’s small collection while he waited. 

When Alec finally came back into the room, his face was still flushed from the heat of his shower, his hair was damp and floppy, and his shirt clinging to his torso.

“Hey,” Alec said somewhat breathlessly as he shut the door behind himself. Magnus could hear him turn the lock with a soft  _ click _ .

Magnus stood up straight from where he had been crouched. 

“Hey. I like your...trophies,” he said as he pointed to the small collection on top of the bookshelf. “When the season is finished up, you’ll probably get to add another one here, huh?”

“That’s the hope,” Alec said as he walked over to where Magnus was. He put his hand on Magnus’ elbow. “You know, it really did mean a lot to me that you came today.”

“Of course, Alexander,” Magnus answered softly. “I wouldn’t have missed it for anything.”

Alec’s breath came out in a small huff, and his hand moved up to the side of Magnus’ neck, holding it firmly as he leaned down and pressed his lips to his. Magnus brought his hands up to Alec’s waist, moving in closer. Alec brought his other arm up and wrapped it around Magnus’ shoulders, bringing him in close, and angled his head to deepen the kiss. Magnus’ lips parted in surprise at the sudden closeness and Alec took advantage of the opening, dipping his tongue into Magnus’ mouth. Magnus let out a small gasp at the slide of Alec’s tongue against his and brought his arms around him to rest his hands on Alec’s lower back. Through the fabric of his shirt, he could feel the two distinctive dimples in his back above his backside. There was nothing soft or sharp about him like Camille, who had been all smooth curves and sharp angles with tender biting kisses. Instead Alec felt strong and solid against him, the years of sports building his body into a well-crafted muscular man, and his kisses felt firm with an edge of desperation. 

He felt Alec begin to pull him over to the bed and he let himself be led by him. He felt graceless as he fell on top of him, but quickly recovered as Alec pulled him fully onto him. Lying between Alec’s legs, he leaned on an elbow next to Alec’s head as he used his other hand to grab Alec’s thighs as he kissed him. Through the thin material of Alec’s sweatpants, he could feel the strong muscles of his thighs. Alec kissed him back fervently, his hand wandering down to Magnus’ chest as he began unbuttoning Magnus’ shirt to gain access to the smooth skin beneath the fabric. Magnus let out a small gasp when Alec ran a finger over his nipple, making Alec let out a deep groan as he made a small thrust into Magnus.

Suddenly Magnus was on his back, Alec straddling his thighs and his mouth moving down to his neck. He could feel the light stubble on his cheeks rub against the sensitive skin under his jaw and felt Alec’s lips leaving amateurish sloppy kisses all over his neck. He couldn’t help but let out a small moan when Alec lightly bit a spot. Alec definitely seemed to notice his reaction. His mouth focused in on the spot, sucking and biting at Magnus’ neck as his hands continued to rub at Magnus’ chest and as he ground his hips down on top of him. Magnus reached down between them and began tugging up Alec’s shirt. Alec acquested easily, to the unspoken request, pulling his lips off of Magnus with a soft  _ pop _ and sitting up to pull off his shirt and throw it off before coming back down and rejoining his lips to Magnus’.

Magnus ran his hands up and down the smooth skin of Alec’s back before bringing them around to his front. He felt the short coarse hairs on Alec’s chest scratch against his fingers before running them down to the short hairs that trailed down to disappear beneath the waistband of his sweats. He gently grabbed the evident bulge in the front of Alec’s pants, eliciting a shuddering gasp from him. He gave him a few gentle strokes through his sweatpants before Alec’s whole body suddenly stiffened and began trembling as he moaned against his mouth. Through the material, he could feel Alec twitching against his hand. Alec leaned his forehead against Magnus’ and he opened his eyes to look up at him only to see him squeezing his eyes shut. He let out a few shaking panting breaths until his body finally relaxed again.

In a flash, Alec rolled off of him to sit on the edge of the bed with his head in his hands.

“I’m so sorry, that was so embarrassing,” he could hear Alec say in a muffled voice.

Magnus sat up, bringing his hand up to reassuringly rub Alec’s shoulder.

“It’s okay,” Magnus said comfortingly. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Alec groaned. “I’m not--I didn’t want it to--I just didn’t want you to think I’m just some stupid...virgin. And then I...from, like, nothing. We barely even did anything, and I...in my pants and everything.”

“Alexander,” Magnus chastised as he grabbed Alec’s hands off of his face and held them in his own. He could see how beet red Alec’s cheeks were and the shame in his eyes. “Alexander. That’s perfectly normal. Do you think I’ve never cum in my pants from doing stuff?”

He leaned over and kissed him. Against his lips, he whispers, “And I don’t think you’re stupid. I actually think you’re pretty freaking hot.”

A shudder ran through Alec’s body at that. He slowly pulled back, averting his eyes. “I--uh--need to get cleaned up.”

Magnus bit his lip and watched as Alec awkwardly got up and pulled out a new pair of underwear from his dresser and left for the bathroom again. Magnus slowly went about rebuttoning his shirt. He touched his neck to the tender spot that Alec had been focussing on and pulled out his phone. He looked at it and sighed.

_ I should have known he was going to give me a hickey. _

He buttoned his shirt up to the collar, but the mark was still clearly visible. He was fixing where his hair had gotten messed up from them fooling around when Alec walked back into the bedroom.

“Do you have a scarf I can borrow?” he asked. Alec looked at him confused until Magnus tilted his head and said, “This would be kind of weird to try to explain to my dad.”

Alec’s face flushed and he went down to the bottom drawer of his dresser and pulled out a black and white scarf, handing it to Magnus. Magnus smirked as he leaned over and gave Alec a peck on the lips before wrapping the scarf around his neck.

“I can give it back to you on Monday,” Magnus told him.

“You don’t have to,” Alec said. “If you don’t want to. I’d--I’d like it. If you wore it. Probably better not at school, but otherwise, y’know.”

Magnus swallowed down the butterflies he felt were trying to escape his stomach and nodded.

“You’re cute,” Magnus stated.

“Shut up,” Alec jokingly told him.

Alec plopped down onto the bed and laid his head onto Magnus’ lap.

“So,” Alec began. “This week?”

“It’s gonna be a crazy week,” Magnus said. “The show is going to premiere on Thursday, so I’ll have to do everything for photography club before then. Plus all of the practice rehearsals we’re going to do leading up to it. And actual homework. And I want to see about getting in a few more makeout sessions with this really hot guy I’ve been seeing.”

Alec failed to hide a smile at that last one. “Do you know how someone would get a ticket for the show?”

“I know a guy,” he teased.

“Yeah?” Alec asked. “Is he really good-looking and wears a lot of glitter?”

“The one with a boyfriend on the baseball team? Yeah, he’s the guy.”

Alec’s eyes went wide, and for a moment Magnus feared he had said the wrong thing.

“I’m sorry if that’s too--”

Magnus didn’t get the opportunity to continue that thought as Alec sat up and smashed his lips to Magnus’.

“Yeah,” Alec said. “That’s the guy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoy: officially secret boyfriends.
> 
> Another chapter title taken from "So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings". I think I've unofficially decided to take chapter titles from that song, but eventually I may nab something else from Caroline Polachek's catalog. nlg, I've got a massive crush and I highly recommend her music, both solo and with Chairlift.
> 
> All comments are appreciated!


	4. Chapter 4: I'm Melting Into You

Monday was a bit of a trial. Magnus had decided to not go with concealer over the hickey, since it would have likely rubbed off during some point in the day and he didn’t want to ruin one of his shirts, but at the same time, constantly adjusting his scarf to ensure it was hidden was incredibly annoying. It didn’t help that the weather going into April was unseasonably warm and humid, so he felt a fool for going with a scarf instead of just taking the L on his shirt potentially getting stained. Underneath the stade lights, how warm the scarf was making him was exacerbated and he could feel his hair drooping down onto his forehead as they went through rehearsals. The physicality he tried to imbue into the role only made his sweating worse, but he knew how important it was to keep up energy even if he felt disgusting as he ran across the stage making pratfalls, sprinting to and fro, and reciting his lines. The other members of the production needed to be able to anticipate his moves across the stage as much as he needed to anticipate theirs.

“All right!” Ragnor called out. “Do we want to take it one last time from the top?”

That was met with a choir of groans.

“Ragnor, it’s nearly six o’clock and I’m starving,” Catarina complained. “We still have two days of rehearsals.”

“We only have two days of rehearsals, I think you mean!” he exclaimed. He looked around at the worn out faces and rolled his eyes. “Fine. But tomorrow we’re going to go through it all again, especially Act II! Everyone is dismissed.”

Catarina strolled over to Magnus and looped her arm in his. “I’m hungry. Let’s get Cane’s.”

“Cat, I still need to be able to fit into my costume tomorrow,” he chided. “I can’t go around filling up on carbs now.”

“We’ve been working our asses off on this, I think we’ll be calorie neutral,” she said as she led him by the arm toward their things. “Besides, we can split a box combo. C’mon, my treat.”

“Is it your treat if you’re angling for a ride?” Magnus asked.

“Yes,” she told him, letting go of him to loop her book bag around herself. “We have basically not gone out for dinner in ages and I am craving some deep fried deliciousness. We’re going.”

“Yes,” he heard Ragnor say behind him. “And this way we can interrogate you about that hickey you’ve been failing to hide all day.”

Magnus knew if his cheeks weren’t already flushed that they certainly would be now. “I agree to eating, not to questioning.”

“We will agree to your terms on one condition,” Cat told him, eyes narrowed. “One question.”

“Depends on the question. You can ask it, I may not answer.”

“Are you hooking up with Alec Lightwood?” she asked.

“No.” 

_ Technically. _

“And you’re not lying?” Ragnor asked.

“Scout’s honor!” Magnus exclaimed as he began walking out of the theater.

“You weren’t a scout!” Cat insisted.

“I wasn’t, but I’m also telling you ‘no’. He and I are friends.”

_ Boyfriends. _ The word made him feel giddy to think about, but did his best to maintain his cool exterior.

“Whatever,” Ragnor said. “You’re friends. Let’s go, I want to see if that fry boy is still working there.”

“The one with the crooked nose or the one with the big gap in his teeth?” Catarina asked jokingly.

“Why not both?” Ragnor asked, eliciting a giggle from Catarina.

“I will never understand your tastes, Ragnor Fell,” Magnus sighed as he unlocked his car.

“You can have all the pretty boys and girls you like, Bane,” he replied as he let himself in the back seat. “Give me a man who is distinctive. I want someone with a face you’ll never forget.”

“Symmetrical faces are overrated?” he teased as he started the car.

“Precisely.”

***

Later that night, full to bursting with fast food and sitting at his desk feeling his eyes glazing over as he tried to focus on his homework for US government, his phone went off. 

“Thank the angel,” he muttered under his breath as he checked his phone.

As much as he knew he needed to get his work done before class tomorrow, he was desperate for a reprieve.

**Biscuit** **  
** **7:02PM** **  
** **How did u want to get ur stuff done for photo club since u cant come this week?**

Magnus groaned and rubbed his finger tips against the bridge of his nose before typing out a reply.

**Magnus** **  
** **7:03PM** **  
** **Do u know if any1 uses the comp labs after 6 on Tuesdays?**

**Biscuit  
** **7:03PM** **  
** **I dont think so. I can give u my key tmrw to get in as long as u promise to give it back Wednesday.**

**Magnus** **  
** **7:03PM** **  
** **This is why ure my fave, Biscuit**

Magnus nodded and flipped his phone around in his hand. He glanced over at his homework before he sighed and gave in and scrolled down his contact list to ‘Alexander’.

**Magnus** **  
** **7:05PM** **  
** **How was practice?**

He set his phone down next to his textbook and went back trying to read about lobbyist power, eyes scanning over the same paragraph he had been stuck on for the past five minutes. When his phone went off again, he nearly jumped out of his seat to read it.

**Alexander** **  
** **7:21PM** **  
** **Insane. Jace thinks that there was a college scout there. Everyone started playing on their A game. I’m not convinced he wasn’t just a perv violating parole by getting too close to the school.**

**Magnus** **  
** **7:22PM** **  
** **So you got good and sweaty?**

**Alexander** **  
** **7:22PM** **  
** **Very sweaty. Very dirty.**

**Magnus** **  
** **7:22PM** **  
** **Way too hot of a mental image when I have work to do**

**Alexander** **  
** **7:23PM** **  
** **It doesn’t have to be a mental image.**

Magnus’ breath caught in his throat at that. He chewed on the inside of his cheek, mind racing for a moment.

**Magnus** **  
** **7:24PM** **  
** **What did you have in mind??**

He waited, staring intently at his phone. He waited, grip tight on his phone. Finally it buzzed with a picture message from Alec. He opened it.

The photo was a close up of Alec’s smiling face, dirt smeared and speckled all over it. His hair was a mess, dried flat against his forehead and coated in a thin layer of dust that lightened his naturally dark hair closer to a tone that matched the dirt smeers on his face.

**Magnus** **  
** **7:26PM** **  
** **Not what I expected but I like it**

**Alexander** **  
** **7:26PM** **  
** **Were you expecting something else? I might need to take a shower, but it sounds like you’re the one with a dirty mind!**

**Magnus** **  
** **7:27PM** **  
** **Someone help me! This guy keeps making fun of me for thinking hes hot!**

**Alexander** **  
** **7:27PM** **  
** **Like you don’t love it.**

**Magnus** **  
** **7:28PM** **  
** **Id love it more if you were here with me now**

**Alexander** **  
** **7:28PM** **  
** **Aren’t you supposed to be studying? Pretty sure if I was there then that wouldn’t be happening.**

**Magnus** **  
** **7:29PM** **  
** **I WAS studying but then I got distracted**

**Alexander** **  
** **7:30PM** **  
** **Are you still wearing a scarf?**

Magnus reached up to his bare neck where the hickey was, brushing over the tender skin with his fingertips and feeling the slight ache from the bruise.

**Magnus** **  
** **7:30PM** **  
** **No Im not. Why?**

**Alexander** **  
** **7:31PM** **  
** **Maybe I want my own mental image before I take my shower.**

Magnus licked his lips and felt a jolt of heat low down in his stomach.

**Magnus** **  
** **7:31PM** **  
** **Does the hot studious type do it for you?**

**Alexander** **  
** **7:32PM** **  
** **Maybe. I do like a guy with brains.**

**Magnus** **  
** **7:32PM** **  
** **Sounds like I should switch up my wardrobe to “hot librarian” ... unless you prefer I was wearing only your scarf?**

**Alexander** **  
** **7:33PM** **  
** **I need to go take that shower.**

Magnus felt pleased with himself. He bit his lip, trying to decide if it would be more or less helpful for his concentration.

_ Less on edge? But more tired. _

He sighed, then hunched back over his desk, going back to his work. He just needed to make it through the play and things would get a lot more relaxed...hopefully in more ways than one.

***

As he rounded the corner to Clary’s locker, he stopped. From where he was standing, he could see a tall blond leaning in close to the tiny redhead. He went into a slow casual gait, avoiding watching the pair as he got into eatshot. 

“--just not looking to date anyone right now,” he could hear her tell him.

He saw him nod and straighten up.

“Alright,” he said. “If you change your mind, here’s my number.”

He watched the blond saunter away, then caught Clary’s eye, giving her a maniacal grin. She pursed her lips.

“How much did you hear?” she asked.

He walked over to her and leaned against the lockers next to her.

“Well,” he began, “I heard you turn him down. I don’t get it though. He seems nice and cute enough. He’s in baseball, so you know he’s gotta be fit, and he’s in the AV club, so you know he has brains. Are you going to try to tell me that British accents don’t do it for you?”

“Sebastian isn’t my type,” Clary stated as she pulled out the books she needed for her first class of the day. “I’m very much over my ‘skinny boys’ phase.”

Magnus put his hand over his heart. “You had such a crush on me. Eighth grade was a good year.”

She gave him a playful glare. “You exploited that crush to no end.”

“But you were the perfect Belle in our production of ‘Beauty and the Beast’!” Magnus told her.

“Until I threw up on stage,” she corrected him as she shut her locker. “Theater and cute skinny boys: never again for Clary Fairchild.”

Magnus linked his arm in hers and gave her a wistful sigh. “If only you hadn’t thrown up. You would have been ‘Clary Bane’ by now.”

She rolled her eyes and laughed, gripping his arm tighter as they walked.

“But why not Sebastian?” Magnus asked. “He’s cute, he’s smart, and you know he likes sports.”

“I don’t know,” she told him. “He doesn’t--I’m just not into him like that. Plus he has a weird vibe.”

“Pretty sure that’s just him being English,” he said. “Knowing you, you probably just can’t trust him because he thinks ‘football’ is played with feet.”

“It’s not,” she declared. “It’s played by large men in protective gear ramming into each other at full speed.”

“Are you sure you’re only Coach Garroway’s  _ step _ -daughter?” Magnus asked playfully. “Pretty sure I heard him say that same exact thing once.”

“If only,” she groaned.

While Clary’s parents had been separated for as long as Magnus had known, they had never officially gotten divorced and he had always known Coach Garroway as Clary’s step-dad. The ugliness of her parent’s separation and the custody dispute over Clary and her brother had gone on for years, to the point that the stress of it made her sensitive and volatile older brother need to be held back a year. After that, they finally decided that her and her brother were old enough to choose who to live with. He was pretty sure she still hadn’t forgiven Jonathan for choosing their father.

They settled into their seats for first period and Clary pulled her lanyard out of her pocket, unhooking the s-clip with the computer lab key on it and handing it to Magnus.

“Here, before I forget,” she said. “I’ll need it back tomorrow. Mr. Starkweather will have my skin if he finds out I lent it to you.”

“You are the best, future-Mrs. Bane,” Magnus joked as he pulled out his keys and clipped on the lab key.

“Shut up,” she chided. “We’re hyphenating, future-Mr. Fairchild-Bane.” 

***

An hour before lunch, Magnus was reapplying his concealer over the mark on his neck. He had gone with a low collar shirt today, in the hopes that the makeup wouldn’t smear and stain, but with how warm it had been lately, he figured it would be best to touch up just in case before he completely sweated it off later during rehearsals. He was just finishing up when he heard the bathroom door open. Alec stopped dead in his tracks when he spotted him.

“Alexander,” Magnus said, recapping his concealer and slipping it back into the case he brought with him. “Came in to touch up too?”

“Hey,” Alec said, looking around the bathroom to double check that they were alone before approaching him. His hand hovered over where the makeup covered up the hickey and blurted out, “Sorry.”

Magnus snorted out a laugh and tilted his head up as Alec leaned down to press a kiss to his lips. He felt Alec’s hand grip his hip and Magnus reached up and curled his fingers into the hairs on the back of Alec’s neck. Alec broke the kiss and leaned his forehead against Magnus’.

“Very romantic,” Magnus said jokingly as he indicated with a hand wave to their surroundings.

“Are you trying to tell me the Institute isn’t the peak of romance?”

Magnus was about to open his mouth to respond when he heard a laugh just outside the door. Alec jumped away from him like his touch burned and walked over to the urinals as Magnus turned toward the sink. 

The door slammed open and a small group of guys walked in. He vaguely recognized them as having been on the swim team, but couldn’t recall any of their names to save his life, least of all in the panic of almost getting caught. Magnus cleared his throat and avoided eye contact as they brushed past him to the stalls, washing his hands before quickly scurrying out of the bathroom and going back to class. As he sat back down in his seat, he mentally slapped himself.

_ My makeup case! _

In his haste to leave, he must have left it on the counter in the bathroom. He sat anxiously in his seat and watched the minutes slowly tick by as he waited for the lunch bell to release them. He felt so annoyed with himself for slipping up for getting so caught up in the moment and leaving it where it could get stolen, if it didn’t end up getting completely defaced like his last makeup case had in junior year when he walked back into the restroom after leaving it there only to find everything dumped out into one of the toilets.

_ I just put my new highlighter in there too, _ he thought, irritated at the thought of having to replace everything again.

Once the bell rang, he rushed back to the boys’ room. He groaned when he looked in and saw that it was long gone. Looking around the room as a few guys filtered in, he couldn’t immediately see anything anywhere. He peeked in the garbage can.  _ Nothing. _ He pursed his lips, walking out dejected. For all he knew, they had tossed it into one of the cans outside, but he wasn’t planning on searching every trash can on campus for it. He pulled his lunch bag out of his locker and made his way for the cafeteria. 

He settled down into his regular seat at their table and began emptying out the lunch he had prepared that morning out in front of himself. From the corner of his eye, he saw someone approach. Standing in front of him was Alec, the missing case in hand.

“Hey,” he said. “I, uhm, rescued this from the bathroom earlier. I thought you’d might like it back.”

Magnus stared at him dumbfounded for a moment before reaching out and accepting it from him. His fingertips brushed Alec’s hand as he took it.

“Thank you so much, Alexander.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he responded. “What are friends for?”

He stood there awkwardly for a moment, seemingly now unsure of what to do with his hands now that he wasn’t holding the case, before making an about face and heading towards the lunch line. Magnus suppressed a smile as he tucked the case inside his lunch bag and began to tuck into his meal.

“Alright,” Ragnor said as he slid onto the bench next to Magnus. “I’m convinced.”

Magnus swallowed a bite of his sandwich and asked, “Of what?”

“That you befriended a straight boy,” he answered. 

“Which part weren’t you sure about?” he asked. “That I made a friend or that he was straight?”

“Both. But he seems very friendly,” Ragnor said as he took a bite of his salad. “And I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone who sucks dick look that uncomfortable holding makeup.”

“You know liking penis and liking makeup aren’t mutually exclusive, right Fell?” Catarina asked in a derisive tone as she settled in across from him.

“Yes, but isn’t life more fun with both?” he questioned teasingly.

“Wouldn’t know,” she said.

Ragnor playfully raised his brows. “Still aiming to be AOC’s First Lady?”

“You know I’m a sucker for dimples and humanitarian idealism. It’ll be groundbreaking to have the First Lady also be the Surgeon General,” Catarina replied before she turned to Magnus. “What was he doing with your makeup anyway?”

“I forgot it in the bathroom,” he answered. “Alec did the gentlemanly thing and saved it for me.”

“May your vanity forever be grateful to Lightwood,” Ragnor declared. “Angels know you wouldn’t be caught dead without a glittery eye look.”

“Don’t forget about my amazing contour!”

Ragnor winced and brought his hand up to wave it in a ‘so-so’ motion. 

Magnus dropped his jaw and gasped. “You take that back.”

“Can you take back your muddy blending in freshman year?” Ragnor asked.

“I am not afraid to take this out to the parking lot, Fell.”

“Calm down,” Catarina interjected as she waved a hand between them. “We don’t have a Pay-Per-View deal lined up yet, boys. Why don’t we talk about something less contentious than makeup, like politics or religion?”

As Clary sat down to join them, Magnus felt a mischievous smirk curl across his face. “Or the fact that Clary is turning down suitors left and right?”

“One guy,” she corrected. “He saw one guy ask me out, and all of a sudden I apparently have them lining up out the door.”

“Our new resident heartbreaker,” Magnus said proudly as he pretended to wipe away a tear.

"Can't have you taking away my crown that easily," Ragnor said. "Who is he?"

"Sebastian," she answered brusquely. "He's nice, just not for me. What's really not nice is Magnus blasting my business."

"The British one on the baseball team?" Catarina asked.

"Yes," Ragnor confirmed. "Also known as 'The Blond One Who Isn't Jace Herondale', and is therefore of no interest to Miss Fairchild."

"Why does everyone think I want to date him?" Clary complained.

"Because we have eyes, Biscuit," Magnus told her as he pulled out his phone.

**Magnus** **  
** **12:12PM** **  
** **I can't thank you enough for saving my makeup for me earlier. Ill have to think of some way to pay you back ;)**

Magnus watched Alec out of the corner of his eye pull out his phone.

**Alexander** **  
** **12:12PM** **  
** **I'm sure you'll think of a way. You're always full of surprises.**

“You’re sure you’re not just deflecting away from your suitor?” Clary asked, gently poking Magnus’ arm.

“Fell has deemed him ‘straight’,” Catarina told her with a brow raised. 

**Magnus** **  
** **12:13PM** **  
** **Do you know if Jace has had his eye out on someone to ask to prom?**

“I can have more friends than just you guys,” Magnus said.

“Can you though?” Ragnor asked sarcastically.

Magnus flipped him off, eliciting a grin from Ragnor.

**Alexander** **  
** **12:14PM** **  
** **First of all, prom is weeks away. Second of all, is there something going on between you two that I don't know about?**

“Do you know if we’ve gotten all of the pamphlets printed out for Thursday?” Catarina asked.

Ragnor turned to her and nodded. “We should have everything prepared before opening night. For now we just need to be able to get through rehearsals backwards and forwards. We’ll be doing it with costumes tonight.”

Catarina looked to Magnus and playfully said, “I’m looking forward to finally kissing my Bottom tonight then.”

**Magnus** **  
** **12:15PM** **  
** **No worries on that front, Im into tall dark and handsome**

He looked up and caught Alec’s eye. He gave him a quick wink. He could have sworn he saw Alec’s cheeks darken.

**Magnus** **  
** **12:15PM** **  
** **Im more curious on how he feels about redheads?**

“My dearest Titania,” Magnus said as he grabbed Catarina’s hand and kissed it. “I’m so glad to see you’re looking forward to it as much as I am.”

“That donkey’s head is going to be a real pain if you aren’t very precise with your movements,” Ragnor informed him. 

“I’ll try not to make an ass out of myself then,” Magnus joked.

Magnus smirked at the chorus of boos.

**Alexander** **  
** **12:17PM** **  
** **Clary Fairchild? I thought she was into annoying geeks.**

**Magnus** **  
** **12:17PM** **  
** **Shes also into annoying jocks**

**Alexander** **  
** **12:18PM** **  
** **Fine, Mr. Matchmaker. We’ll see.**

He gave Clary a mischievous grin. She looked at him with suspicion.

“Whatever you’re doing, I don’t like it,” she told him.

He just winked at her.

***

Magnus just about sweated off all of his makeup during rehearsals. Between the stage lights, the physicality demanded in the role, and now the costume with donkey head and all, he felt absolutely disgusting. He fanned himself with his hand to hopefully dry some of the sweat that had collected after taking off the mask. He quickly ran his fingers through his hair to fix it up enough before running back on stage to get in position for his dream speech.

“Hang on,” one of the stagehands stopped him by grabbing his arm.

She pulled out a translucent powder from out of the makeup bag she had slung around her hip. She quickly dabbed over his forehead and nose to take away the sheen that had collected in a thin mist over his face during the first three acts.

“Thank you,” he whispered quickly before hustling out to his mark.

They finished up the first dress rehearsal and Ragnor went out to center stage to bring everyone in together.

“Excellent work everyone,” he began, “but there are a lot of things that need some work. We need to tighten up costume change times. We need everyone to be on their marks on time, otherwise it’ll completely disrupt the flow of the entire show. I think it would be a little gauche to ask you all to practice changing clothes here, so I think it would be best for you all to just take your costumes home for that. We’ll run through a few more scene then call it a night.”

Ragnor walked over to Magnus and muttered to him, “You might want to invest in some Dermablend.”

He pointed to his own neck and raised an eyebrow. Magnus sighed, covering his neck over the hickey.

“Do you still need me?” he asked. “Or would it be okay for me to call it a night?”

Ragnor shrugged. “I don’t think so, but you’ll still be on campus, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Alright, since I’m such a nice guy,” he drew out, “you’re free to go. Just keep your phone on, alright?”

Magnus nodded, grabbing his things to go change back into his normal clothes. In the backroom of the theater in front of the mirror he touched up where the concealer had worn off. He bit his lip, pulling out his phone and sending out a message to Alec.

**Magnus** **  
** **5:33PM** **  
** **What time do you think youll be on campus til?**

He packed up his costume to take home later and made his way to the computer lab. He settled into his usual spot and got to work editing and annotating some photos he knew he would need to send in to the yearbook club and school newspaper that week. 

Usually his main duty in the club was to take and edit the photos he took through the week, but since he decided he would eat up a little bit of time waiting for Alec as well, he decided to consult the student database to find and identify everyone in the pictures he took. It was a time consuming but necessary part of what the photography club did when they sent in photos to other clubs, as all students in the photos would need to be catalogued in case they did choose to include them on the school website or in the yearbook. He sighed as he went through and listed people from left to right in each of the photos he chose as good before finally he heard his phone buzz. He scrambled to check it.

**Alexander** **  
** **5:51PM** **  
** **We’re just finishing up training now. Did you have something in mind?**

**Magnus** **  
** **5:51PM** **  
** **Im in the comp lab if you wanted to hang out for a bit before heading home**

**Alexander** **  
** **5:52PM** **  
** **If you don’t mind that I’ll be sweaty and gross.**

**Magnus** **  
** **5:52PM** **  
** **Maybe I like you hot n sweaty**

**Alexander** **  
** **5:53PM** **  
** **I can stop by for a bit in 5.**

Magnus could feel himself buzzing with excitement. As much as he truly did enjoy his extracurriculars, he found it difficult to focus when he knew how much fun he could be having fun with Alexander. Not getting to actually spend much time and not getting to do things like just holding hands or eating at the same lunch table together while seeing Alec everyday walking through the halls and barely getting to even interact certainly made that more difficult. He felt like a starving Tantalus seeing a delicious meal always just out of reach. 

He idly waited, scrolling around through pictures without actually seeing any of them until he finally heard a soft knock at the door to the lab. He jumped up out of the chair to go up and open the locked door.

“Alexander,” Magnus breathed out.

“Hey,” he answered as he entered the room, wiping his brow.

Alec seemed to still be glistening with sweat, hair a ruffled mess from his training session and his work out clothes clinging to him. He moved inside the room past Magnus and looked around till he spotted his work station. Magnus closed and relocked the door, just in case.

“Staying late today?” Alec asked, indicating at the screen.

“Yeah,” Magnus said as they moved over to the computer. “Just needed to do some stuff for photo club, since Thursday is opening night.”

“About that,” Alec said as they sat down together. “How do--where should I get tickets?”

Magnus felt a small smile crack his face and his chest swell up with something he couldn’t identify.

“You want to come to the show?” Magnus asked.

“Of course,” Alec said. “I have to show my school spirit, right? What better way than to supp--”

Magnus interrupted him by grabbing his face with both hands and kissing him. Alec responded by gripping the front of Magnus’ shirt to lean him in closer. Magnus could taste the sweat clinging Alec’s skin and feel the heat of his workout radiating off of him. He smelled like grass, and dust, and salt, and  _ Alexander _ . Magnus ran his fingers through the damp hairs at the base of Alec’s neck. Alec parted his dry lips and Magnus took advantage of the opportunity to slip his tongue into the wet heat of Alec’s mouth. Alec let out a small moan at the intrusion, his grip on Magnus’ shirt tightening.

When they parted for a breath, Alec whispered, “I wish we could stay like this. I promised my mom I’d be home by six-thirty.”

Magnus pressed several small kisses to Alec’s lips and asked, “Can’t be late?”

“A promise is a promise,” he responded. “Besides, knowing her she’d start calling around trying to figure out where I ran off to. Might get awkward.”

Magnus nodded, pulling away from Alec who in turn loosened his grip on him.

“Did you manage to talk to Jace today? About Clary?” he asked.

Alec cocked his head. “Why are you so intent on hooking up those two?”

Magnus smirked. “Think about it. If Clary and Jace were dating, they would want to spend a lot of their time together. And if that were the case, it wouldn’t be unreasonable for her friends and his friends to start hanging out.”

“I see,” Alec said teasingly. “So not out of the goodness of your heart.”

“It’s coming from a well-meaning place,” Magnus defended. “Clary totally has had a crush on him since forever and I am certain she could have Jace wrapped around her little finger. I just also happen to have ulterior motives. I can both want what’s best for my friend and want to maximize time spent with my boyfriend.”

“Ludicrous,” Alec whispered as he pulled Magnus in for another kiss.

Magnus sighed contentedly into the kiss and muttered against Alec’s lips, “What is?”

“You,” he answered as he worked his hands into Magnus’ hair.

Magnus ran his hand down the front of Alec’s t-shirt down to the waistband of his joggers. He shuddered and broke the kiss.

“We can’t,” he told Magnus. “There’s not enough--I’m not--”

“I know,” he interrupted. 

Alec’s face was a blur up as close to it as he was, but he could still see that Alec’s eyes were closed as he caught his breath. Magnus kissed his nose and gently leaned back. Alec screwed up his nose and gave him a little glare.

“You’ve got promises to keep, Alexander Lightwood,” he announced before glancing at his computer screen. “And so do I.”

“I’ll see you around though, right?” Alec said as he stood up to leave.

Magnus nodded as he walked him out. “Yeah, I’ll see you around. Text me when you get home?”

Alec gave him a half smile.

“Yeah.”

***

The next day at lunch, Magnus settled in at the usual table. Clary slid in next to him, her hand held out. He smiled, as he handed her back the computer lab key. She reattached it to her lanyard then began to stare him down. He tilted his head and held out the bag of chips he had been munching from.

“Hungry?” he asked innocently.

She huffed, grabbing a chip out and shoving it in her mouth. “What did you do?”

“What could you possibly be talking about?” he asked, feigning ignorance.

“You know what,” she said as she pulled out her own lunch bag and emptied it out on the table.

“And?” he asked. “How did it go?”

She pursed her lips. “We have second period together, he decided to sit next to me, and asked me out.”

“And?” he asked more insistently.

“And I said I would think about it,” she told him. 

“That’s good,” he said. “Playing hard to get. Guys love a challenge.”

“Magnus,” she said as she leaned her head on his shoulder. “Is this a good idea? He’s cute, and I like him, and everything, but...is there any way that going out with him would actually end well?”

“Clary Fairchild, we are eighteen,” he said as he leaned his head against hers. “We graduate in less than two months. If you end up hating him and breaking up, you can go to college on the other side of the country and you don’t have to ever see him again. If you’re just meh on him, Angels forbid you go out and have fun having a couple of meals paid for by a cute guy. Or, what if you guys are actually perfect for each other? You might not ever see him again. You’ll never know unless you go for it.”

She looked up at him and gave him a small smile. “Magnus, you are far too good at convincing me to do things. Why on earth do I trust you?”

“You shouldn’t,” he said jokingly as he straightened up and grabbed a bite of his food. “But have I ever led you astray?”

“All the time,” Ragnor interjected as he and Catarina sat down with trays in hand. “But I don’t know what we’re talking about.”

“I told Clary she would look hot if she switched it up and started wearing all black leather,” Magnus jested as he winked at her. Clary gave his arm a playful smack, but Magnus could see a slight blush rise to her cheeks.

“No flirting at the table,” Catarina chimed in. 

“But how can I help it when there is such a vision seated before me,” Magnus teased as he held up his hands to her.

She took his hands in hers and said, “Save it for the stage, my beloved Bottom.”

“Beloved, certainly,” he said as he slid his hands out of hers, “but you know that I’m no bottom.”

She rolled her eyes and dug into her lunch.

He turned to Ragnor and asked, “Speaking of the play, do you know if I could get a couple of tickets?”

“You never claimed yours, so yeah,” he answered. “Just remind me during rehearsals.”

“Perfect,” Magnus said before taking a bite of his sandwich.

He pulled out his phone and sent out a quick text.

**Magnus** **  
** **12:13PM** **  
** **Ill have a ticket for you tmrw**

**Alexander** ****  
**12:14PM** **  
** **You’re the best. <3**

He could feel the butterflies begin to swarm in his stomach.

_ This man is going to get me in so much trouble. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have been so appreciative of the super sweet comments, I'm so glad people have been enjoying this fic! Hopefully you guys enjoyed this chapter as well! All thoughts, opinions, and comments are always welcome, your input really does help me move the story along.
> 
> New song lyric for the chapter name, this time from "I Belong In Your Arms" by Chairlift.


	5. Chapter 5: Hey Romeo, I'm Ready To Go

“Are you excited?” Asmodeus asked as they prepared their lunches for the day.

Magnus nodded as he spooned some hummus into the two small containers he had laid out. “Yeah, opening night should be really good. We’ve sold a bunch of tickets, though I think it’s mostly to friends and family members.”

“I’m sorry I won’t be able to make it tonight,” he apologized. 

Magnus felt a pang in his chest. The evening class his father taught on Tuesdays and Thursdays wouldn’t even let out until after the second act was finished. It wasn’t in his control, but he couldn’t help but feel disappointed that Asmodeus wouldn’t be at his opening night performance.

“It’s alright,” Magnus reassured him. “You’re still coming to the Friday performance though, right?”

“Obviously,” he stated matter-of-factly. “But why don’t I make it up to you by taking you out to a celebratory dinner after? Wherever you want to go.”

“Hotpot?” Magnus said excitedly.

Asmodeus cracked a smile and agreed. “Hotpot.”

“Yes!” Magnus exclaimed. “We haven’t been in forever.”

“It wouldn’t be much of a treat if we went every week. I wouldn’t have as trim of a figure either,” Asmodeus said as he pulled out their lunch bags. “You said friends were getting tickets to tonight’s show as well. Does ‘friends’ include Alec?”

Magnus paused and examined his father’s eternally cool expression before answering. “Yes.”

“Then he should come with us,” he informed Magnus. “He does eat, I assume?”

“I guess I can ask him,” Magnus said avoidantly.

“I know it can be embarrassing going out with your parents and your significant other,” he elaborated, “but I made it clear before that I would like to get to know him.”

“I get that,” Magnus said with a sigh. “I just don’t want you to...interrogate him.”

“I won’t ‘interrogate’ him, as you say. I just want to get to know him,” he said. “I made a mistake before, not insisting on getting to know Camille before it was too late. It’s not one I intend on repeating.”

Wide-eyed, Magnus watched his father for a moment before pulling out his phone.

**Magnus** **  
** **7:06AM** **  
** **My dad wants you to come to dinner with us tonight**

He held up his phone to Asmodeus.

“It’s done,” Magnus stated simply.

He nodded back approvingly before handing Magnus his lunch bag.

“Good. Now go finish getting ready. I’ll be dropping you off today,” he told him. 

Magnus scurried upstairs and quickly gathered together everything he would need for the day.

_ Makeup, costume, books, pens, phone, keys, wallet, lunch. _

He glanced at himself in the mirror and took a deep breath as he made sure that there wasn’t a hair out of place.

It had been a while since his father had driven him to school. Freshman year he had taken the bus everyday, but during the calamity that was his sophomore year and having one too many outfits ruined after getting hot coffee, spoiled milk, or extra-pulpy orange juice dumped over his head on the ride to school, Asmodeus had insisted on driving him till he got his license. The old beater his father gave during the summer between his sixteenth and seventeenth birthdays after he passed driver’s ed wasn’t much, but it was everything to Magnus considering his father was on an educator’s salary. Driving separately for the past year and a half had put much less of a strain on them than having to make Magnus wait to get picked up or, even worse, subjecting him to the torment the other kids on the bus had put him through. But since tonight he would be picking them up for dinner, there wasn’t much of a point in Magnus driving himself.

As he hopped into the passenger side of his father’s car, he felt his phone go off in his pocket.

**Alexander** **  
** **7:18AM** **  
** **You told your dad?**

Magnus’ blood ran cold for a moment. He thought he had told Alec that, but now he wasn’t sure. He tapped on his phone, trying to send out the message as quickly as possible.

**Magnus** **  
** **7:18AM** **  
** **Yeah is that okay? Hes the only 1 who knows. Im sorry if its not okay**

Asmodeus glanced over at Magnus as he started the car.

“Is everything alright?” he asked.

“Hopefully,” he answered.

Magnus worried his lip as he waited for his reply.

**Alexander** **  
** **7:21AM** **  
** **It’s fine. Is it okay if my sister comes?**

Magnus raised his eyebrows in surprise. He knew that Alec and his sister were close and at the very least he carpooled with her to school every morning, but he hadn’t been aware that Alec was out to anyone, let alone someone in his family.

“He wants to know if his sister can come to dinner,” he relayed.

“Certainly,” his father replied. “The more the merrier.”

Magnus smiled at his phone as he answered in the affirmative and turned to his father.

“Looks like we’re on,” he told him.

***

**Alexander** **  
** **3:08PM** **  
** **Break a leg tonight.**

Magnus grinned at the message, quickly typing out a reply as Clary walked up to meet him in the hallway.

**Magnus** **  
** **3:09PM** **  
** **Youre too sweet. Thank you**

“You might be right,” Clary said as she met him outside of his last period class, “about guys being into play hard to get.”

Magnus smirked at her. “I’m assuming this is about Mr. All-Star?”

“Him and Sebastian” she exclaimed before letting out a huff. “I’ve been single literally all year, and now I’ve been asked out by two different guys twice in one week.”

“Maybe all the boys just wanted to give you time since your ‘conscious uncoupling’ from Simon,” Magnus offered.

“Obviously, because when I think of ‘sensitive’ and ‘emotionally understanding’, I think of high school boys,” Clary said sarcastically. “Just weird timing. Sebastian practically chased me down while my mom dropped me off, and then Jace wrote his number on my freaking arm during second period.”

She showed him the smudged seven digits that had been scrawled there in black felt pen. Magnus did his best to stifle the laugh he felt bubbling up.

“It’s not funny!” she cried. “Since when am I the shiny toy all the boys want to fight over?”

“Biscuit, you have always been a total snack,” Magnus told her as he bumped his shoulder into hers. “It probably just took some time for the smell of geek to wash off for them to realize it.” He gestured at her marked up arm. “I’m assuming that’s already in your phone?”

“Maybe,” she said bashfully.

“So when’s the first date?” Magnus asked, raising his eyebrow as they reached the door to the computer lab.

“I haven’t even texted him yet,” she told him. “I don’t want to seem, I don’t know, desperate?”

“Smart plays,” he concurred. “Wait till at least tomorrow night. Make him chase you.”

“Isn’t that kinda manipulative?” she asked, seemingly unsure.

“I’m a senior in high school, not a moral philosopher,” he told her. “I’m advising you on how to lure in a guy, not on the ethical implications of dating strategies.”

“Not sure how much I like the idea of ‘luring in’ men,” she said with a grimace. “It makes me sound like a siren.”

“You do have mermaid hair,” he said. “I’ve gotta get hustling to make sure everything is set up for the show. You’ll be in the audience?”

“I wouldn’t miss it for anything,” she assured him as she walked inside.

He readjusted his bag as he strolled casually in the direction of the theater. 

_ The more time I take, the less heavy lifting I have to do, _ he thought.  _ But the more time I waste, the more pissed Ragnor is going to be. _

He sighed, just about to hasten his pace to avoid the shouting down he was sure to get if he was late when he heard a voice calling his name. He swung around to spot Sebastian following him.

“Hey, Mr. Master Manipulator,” he said jokingly when he caught up to Magnus. 

Magnus cocked his head, confused and taken aback. Sebastian waved his hand dismissively and said, “I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation with Clary.”

Magnus’ face contorted and said, “Yikes, okay.”

“It’s not like that,” Sebastian insisted. “I just mean...I overheard the conversation, is all. I know that you don’t know me that well, but I promise, I’m a nice guy. You seem...intent on her dating Jace Herondale. I was just wondering if maybe you could put in a good word for me?”

Magnus watched him carefully.

Sebastian sighed and threw up his hands. “Sorry, I’m just--I need help. If you couldn’t tell, I’m not really that good with girls. Either it takes me ages to even build up the nerve to talk to them or they take one look at me and think I’m ‘friendship material’. Clary is...the prettiest, sweetest girl in the entire school. I genuinely really like her. I just--I thought maybe with a little encouragement from one of her best friends? Maybe I might have an equal shot?”

Magnus nodded and gave him a tight smile. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Sebastian let out a relieved breath and grinned. “Thank you, thank you so much, Magnus.”

“Alright, well,” Magnus told him. “I’ve gotta go. Big show tonight.”

“Right,” Sebastian said. “Then best of luck to you!”

_ Angels, that was awkward, _ Magnus thought as he hurried off, now desperate to get to the theater as quickly as possible.  _ No wonder that boy can’t get a date. _

***

Magnus took Catarina’s hand as they stepped up to the edge of the stage to take their bow. The play’s opening night had been an overwhelming success, with only a few hiccups that the audience didn’t seem to notice.

_ The next two nights should go much more smoothly now that we’ve had a full run in front of an audience _ , Magnus thought.

He ducked out backstage, quickly changing back into his normal clothes and touching up where his makeup had run during the show. He refluffed his hair, hoping to look mostly decent for the first time being out in public with Alec.

_ A month and a half since that first baseball game when I got his number, _ he thought as he reapplied his deodorant,  _ now it’s our first time actually going out to dinner as a couple, and of course it’s with my dad and his sister. _

He took a deep breath as he steeled himself for the night to come. He came out through the stage doors and immediately was met with open arms.

“Magnus!” Clary exclaimed as she threw him into a hug. “You guys were amazing!”

“Thank you, Biscuit,” he muttered into her shoulder.

He looked up and could see Alec standing steadfast with Isabelle, who had a small bouquet in hand.

He knew Isabelle Lightwood primarily through word of mouth. She was two years Alec’s junior, so he didn’t have much reason to interact with her. What he had heard was that she was smart as a whip, and he had eyes so he could see that she had the looks to match. The resemblance between Alec and his younger sister was uncanny. If Isabelle gained a foot in height and cut off her long curls, they might have been able to pass for one another. 

He broke away from the hug with Clary and reached out his hand to Alec.

“Thank you so much for coming,” he said as they shook hands.

“Of course,” Alec said. “I’ve heard great things about the drama club here at the Institute. I’m happy to support the arts here any way I can.”

Magnus turned to his sister. “And you must be Isabelle. It’s a pleasure to finally properly get to meet you.”

“You too,” she said as she pulled him into a one-armed hug. She pulled back and handed him the bouquet. “On behalf of me and my brother. I’ve heard it’s tradition to give flowers for a great theater performance.”

“Indeed!” he exclaimed, bringing the flowers up to his nose and his eyes meeting Alec’s. “They’re lovely, thank you.”

In the dim theater lights, he could just barely catch the light dusting of a blush on Alec’s cheeks.

“Well,” Clary said as she patted Magnus’ shoulder, “I’m going to go find Cat and Rags to congratulate them.”

“Alright, see you tomorrow,” he said. He turned to the Lightwoods and said, “My father should be outside. Are you guys ready?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Alec breathed out. 

Magnus would swear he caught the smallest hint of a smug smirk on Isabelle’s face as they walked out together. Out in the parking lot waiting with the car idling was Asmodeus. Magnus loaded his things into the trunk while Isabelle quickly rushed over to take the passenger’s seat. When Magnus got into the car, he did his best to hold back the smile at how ridiculous Alec looked, his too tall body crowded into the seat behind her and his knees pressed into the back of the passenger’s seat.

“How did it go?” his father asked.

“Great,” Magnus answered.

“Yeah,” Isabelle agreed. “Everyone was really great, but Alec and I thought Magnus was the best.”

“Wonderful,” Asmodeus said. “Is everyone buckled up?”

Each answered in the affirmative and he began driving to the restaurant. As they continued to make small talk about the show, Magnus could feel Alec’s hand brush against his in the dark of the backseat. He held his hand open in a silent offering. He felt Alec lace his fingers into his, the rough calluses on his fingertips gently rubbing his knuckles. Magnus held Alec’s hand, glancing over and giving him a small smile as he gave him a reassuring squeeze. Alec’s hand remained in his until they pulled into the parking lot, where he slipped out of his as they pulled into a spot near the entrance of the restaurant.

They settled down at the table, Magnus and his father on one side with Alec and his sister on the other. Asmodeus quickly ordered a few things to get their meal started with. 

“This seems like a nice place,” Isabelle began.

“Yes,” Asmodeus concurred. “Magnus and I have come here for special occasions ever since we first moved to Idris. There were more places like this back in Edom, but this is the only hotpot place here.”

Alec turned to Magnus and asked, “You’re originally from Edom?”

Magnus nodded and Alec’s lips spread into a playful smirk. “So originally we were supposed to hate each other?”

“Ah, yes,” Asmodeus chimed in. “The Edom Devils and the Idris Hunters. Old high school rivals. I remember back in my day when I was an Edom Devil. The Hunters had no chance against me when I was on the tennis team.”

“This time around the Devils have no chance against the baseball team,” Alec said. “If we both make it another two games, we’ll be up against them next Saturday.”

“You play for the school baseball team?” Asmodeus asked.

“Yeah,” he replied. “I’m co-captain.”

“Then I wish you the best of luck,” Asmodeus said. “So, how did you two meet?”

“I was taking photos of the game,” Magnus answered. “And I asked if I could get an interview for the school paper.”

“It’s good that you were the one with initiative,” Isabelle said as she playfully eyed her brother. “Angels know Alec wouldn’t have.”

“Izzy,” Alec admonished. 

“Not to pry,” his father began, “but any reason why?”

Isabelle watched her brother’s reaction but he just looked annoyed at her. 

“I’m not, y’know. Out,” Alec answered reluctantly.

“But you know?” Magnus asked Isabelle.

“Alec couldn’t keep a secret from me if his life depended on it,” she explained.

“Then you’re the one I should go to whenever Alec is being mysterious,” Magnus joked.

She winked and faux-whispered, “I’ll give you my number later.”

Alec pursed his lips and looked at Magnus. Magnus reached his foot under the table and tapped his shoe against Alec’s. Alec shook his head, but gently rubbed his foot back against Magnus’. He lightly ran his foot up Alec’s calf, trying to look as casual as possible. Alec lightly bit his lip and made a tight smile.

The wait staff began bringing out the items Asmodeus had ordered, who then began putting them into the hot broth in the center of the table and serving up various items to each of them.

“Graduation is right around the corner,” his father stated as he put a few pieces of meat into Alec’s bowl. “Any plans for after high school?”

“I have a few options,” Alec said. “Right now, I’m torn between going to Silent City College and Alicante University.”

“Alicante is where Magnus is going to go,” Asmodeus told him proudly. “I teach a few online courses there, so he’ll qualify for a tuition reduction.”

“You’re a teacher?” Alec asked.

“A professor, yes,” he corrected. “I teach classical studies at the state and community colleges here in Idris, as well as the online courses I teach for Alicante. It’s unfortunately why I couldn’t make it to Magnus’ show tonight, but thankfully I don’t teach late on Fridays.”

“That’s a lot.”

“That’s the reality of academia. Making ends meet as a single parent and an educator requires a lot of work. Did you have a major in mind?”

“Business,” Alec answered firmly. “My family owns the pro shop in town.”

Asmodeus nodded approvingly. “It’s a good plan to have in mind.”

“I wasn’t there,” Isabelle said, “but I’m pretty sure he was born with a vision board in hand. Even when we were little, he was already planning on how he was going to run the family business.”

“That would explain so much about him,” Magnus said, smirking at Alec, who lightly kicked him under the table in return.

“Don’t encourage her,” Alec said. “You’re definitely going to Alicante? Why there?”

“They have a really good biochemical engineering program,” he told him. “Call me a nerd, but I’ve always really liked chemistry and mixing stuff together. I’m good at it. It’s part of what drew me into photography. Playing around with different chemical reactions and timings along with artistry. I mainly use my digital camera now for convenience, but I used to do more stuff with developing my own photos.”

“That’s actually really cool,” Alec told him earnestly. 

“Thank you,” Magnus said, trying to not sound too pleased by the compliment and taking a bite of vegetable while he rubbed his ankle against Alec’s.

***

Asmodeus and Magnus dropped Alec and Isabelle back off at his car in the school parking lot after dinner. 

“It was so nice finally getting to meet you,” she muttered into Magnus’ shoulder as the three students exchanged goodbye hugs.

“You too,” he said.

Asmodeus and Alec exchanged a firm handshake, before Magnus and Alec gave each other a quick chaste hug.

“Text me when you get home?” Magnus asked.

“Always,” Alec told him as he and Isabelle got into their car.

Magnus waved them off before he got back into his father’s car in the passenger’s seat.

“I like him,” Asmodeus informed him as they began driving home.

“Me too,” Magnus said.

“He seems to have a good head on his shoulders,” Asmodeus continued. “And I would have to be blind to not see how moon-eyed you were over each other. Don’t think I didn’t notice that you two were holding hands.”

“Dad, please,” Magnus groaned, sinking down into his seat.

“Am I not allowed to think it’s sweet? Seeing my boy in love?”

“We’ve only been together a few weeks,” Magnus told him, grateful that the darkness in the car would help cover up the blush he felt rising up on his cheeks.

“I realize that,” he said. “But my eyesight is better than the average housecat, Magnus.”

Magnus didn't say anything, instead choosing to pointedly look out the window. He felt his father's hand grip his shoulder.

"It's alright. I approve of this Alec Lightwood. He seems like a good kid. Just don't lose your head, alright?" his father assured him. 

"I won't, Father."

Once they got back home, Magnus rushed to get his things out of guys father's trunk and up to his room. He threw everything down and plopped on his bed.

**Magnus** **  
** **8:32PM** **  
** **Pretty sure my dad thinks were going to elope or something**

**Alexander** **  
** **8:33PM** **  
** **That would be a shame. You would plan an excellent wedding for us.**

Reading that text made Magnus feel giddy. He wasn’t so foolish that he thought about that kind of stuff, especially since they hadn’t even graduated high school yet. They might now even go to the same college, and long distance high school relationships are notoriously bound for failure. And obviously if they did make it, then marriage would be something when they were older, in their thirties or something like that. But the fact that the prospect of a future together was on the table like that made the butterflies in his stomach go wild. 

**Magnus** **  
** **8:33PM** **  
** **Sorry Lightwood but Im not that easy. Youll have to at least take me out on a real date first**

**Alexander** **  
** **8:34PM** **  
** **You mean to tell me you don’t bring your dad to all your dates?**

**Magnus** **  
** **8:34PM** **  
** **Its not the ideal date. Id much prefer ones that ends with you kissing me**

**Alexander** **  
** **8:35PM**

**I like the sound of that. You are a very good kisser.**

Magnus grinned, repositioning himself on the bed to get more comfortable.

**Magnus** **  
** **8:35PM** **  
** **Speak for yourself. I can only imagine what that mouth could do**

**Alexander** **  
** **8:36PM** **  
** **And what would you do with my mouth?**

Magnus could feel himself getting worked up at the prospect.

**Magnus** **  
** **8:37PM** **  
** **1st Id kiss you senseless. You get so hot and worked up. Seeing you like that is a major turn on**

**Alexander** **  
** **8:38PM** **  
** **I can’t help it if you do that to me.**

**Magnus** **  
** **8:39PM** **  
** **Knowing you, you would probably cover me in hickeys again. I would let you**

**Alexander** **  
** **8:40PM** **  
** **In my defense, it was an accident. I can’t deny I liked seeing it though.**

Magnus could feel the heat rising up to his neck as he brushed his fingers over the covered up mark on his neck. It was mostly healed now, with the faintest discoloration from where Alec had his lips on Magnus’ neck.

**Magnus** **  
** **8:40PM** **  
** **Marking your territory?**

**Alexander** **  
** **8:41PM** **  
** **Maybe I like seeing that you’re mine.**

Magnus felt his breath catch in his throat as he unbuttoned his jeans, shoving them down his thighs before kicking them off. He looked over to the door, quickly panicking and locking the door lest his father decide to open the door to wish him a goodnight. He got back on the bed, lying back and running his fingers over the front of his underwear over his rising erection.

**Magnus** **  
** **8:42PM** **  
** **You know how to make a man hot under the collar Alexander. Are you still wearing the same clothes you were wearing at dinner?**

**Alexander** **  
** **8:43PM** **  
** **Yes, but I was just about to change. What should I wear?**

**Magnus** **  
** **8:44PM** **  
** **Nothing.**

**Alexander** **  
** **8:44PM** **  
** **Only if you do too.**

Magnus scrambled to take off his shirt, nearly ripping it as he fumbled with the buttons. He rolled his underwear down, his erection lightly hitting against his stomach as he freed it from its cotton prison, and got them down to around his ankles before letting them fall to the floor.

**Magnus** **  
** **8:46PM** **  
** **I am**

**Alexander** **  
** **8:47PM** **  
** **Me too.**

**Alexander** **  
** **8:47PM** **  
** **Are you touching yourself?**

Magnus wrapped his hand around himself letting out a sigh as he imagined Alexander doing the same. He could almost feel the ghosts of Alec’s rough hands touching him as he gave himself a few slow strokes.

**Magnus** **  
** **8:48PM** **  
** **Yes. Thinking about you**

**Alexander** **  
** **8:49PM**

**I wish you were here touching me.**

Magnus let out a shaky breath as he quickened his pace.

**Magnus** **  
** **8:50PM** **  
** **How do you want me to touch you?**

**Alexander** **  
** **8:51PM** **  
** **I want your hands on me and your fingers inside me.**

Magnus felt his mouth drop as he read the message and his throat tightened.

**Magnus** **  
** **8:52PM** **  
** **Are you fingering yourself now?** **  
** **Alexander** **  
** **8:53PM** **  
** **Yes. I’m imagining it’s you.**

Magnus could picture him, legs spread, fingers deep inside himself. He thought back to the feeling of Alec on top of him and how he sounded when he had cum when he was grinding himself on Magnus’ lap. Magnus bit back a moan, trying to keep quiet. He could feel his cock beginning to twitch in his hand as he got close.

**Magnus** **  
** **8:54PM** **  
** **Do you want me to fuck you like that?**

**Alexander** **  
** **8:55PM** **  
** **Yes**

Magnus spasmed in his hand as he came, the cum streaking and pooling onto his stomach. Magnus gulped down air, trying to catch his breath as a postorgasmic haze took over his brain. Magnus looked down at the text and swallowed hard.

**Magnus** **  
** **8:57PM** **  
** **Angels take me, you dont know what you do to me Alec**

**Magnus** **  
** **8:57PM** **  
** **I would love to make you cum from just my fingers**

Magnus felt the spunk cooling on his abdomen. He reached over and grabbed a tissue, laying it down over the pool that had collected. He sighed, contented.

**Alexander** **  
** **8:58PM** **  
** **I would let you. I want you to.**

**Magnus** **  
** **8:58PM** **  
** **Just imagining you like that made me cum**

Magnus wiped himself up, taking deep breaths. He pulled his used pair of underwear off the floor, deciding it was best to make sure he took a shower before he went to bed. Magnus’ phone went off again and he bit his lip as he read the message and all of the promise that it implied.

**Alexander** **  
** **9:01PM** **  
** **What are you doing Saturday night?**

***

Asmodeus clapped Magnus on the shoulder as he exited out from the stage after changing out of his costume.

“It was a wonderful show,” his father told him. “You did an excellent job. You’ve made me very proud.”

“Thank you, Father,” Magnus said, beaming.

“Now,” Asmodeus said, “did you bring everything you needed?”

It had become a tradition for Magnus and his friends since their very first theater show together in seventh grade to have a sleepover at one of their homes. Since the fallout of sophomore year, that number had dwindled down from most of the theater club down to just him and his three closest friends. Because it would be their last ever, Ragnor had decided he was going to pull all the stops preparing, excitedly going into detail during lunch.

“Yeah. Toiletries, change of clothes, pillow. It’s all in my car ready to go.”

“Good,” his father said as he patted his shoulder. “It’s just the four of you?”

“Yup, the usual suspects,” he said, answering his unasked question.

_ ‘Your boyfriend isn’t going to be at the sleepover, is he?’ _

As accepting as his father had been of his new relationship, he knew that he wouldn’t exactly be pleased if he found out Magnus was using an innocent sleepover with friends as an excuse to hook up. Alec was busy anyway, spending his Friday night hanging out with his friends from the team and enjoying some comradery before their game on Saturday afternoon. 

“We’ll be staying over at Rags’ before going to the show tomorrow and then I’m going to a celebration meal after. I probably won’t be in till late tomorrow.”

_ It’s not exactly a lie, _ Magnus rationalized.  _ Alec won’t be there tonight. _

“Alright. I’ll leave you to it then. Have fun, don’t do anything too crazy.”

“Yes, because when you think of crazy nights, you think of Catarina,” Magnus said, voice dripping with sarcasm. “I should be saying the same to you. Don’t stay up too late grading.”

“Deal,” Asmodeus said.

Since Magnus was the only one with a car, the four of them loaded up everything into his trunk and made their way to Ragnor Fell’s home for a night of classic films and late night sugary snacks.

“So what movie are we in the mood for first?” Ragnor asked from the back seat.

“I’m feeling Baz Luhrmann,” Magnus stated.

“Do we really need ‘Shakespeare But Trashier’ right now?” Catarina asked with air quotes.

“What’s wrong with  _ Romeo _ -Plus Sign- _ Juliet _ ?” Magnus asked with a smirk.

Ragnor rolled his eyes. “Other than it sounds like DiCaprio and Danes learned all of their lines phonetically? If we’re going trashy, we should go full on with  _ Showgirls _ .”

“We might as well be watching porn together at that point,” Magnus said. “What about a Harmony Korine film?”

“Ew,” Ragnor said with a wrinkled nose. “That’s like watching an embarrassing porno.”

“Why don’t we go with a tried-and-true classic?” Catarina intervened. “The original  _ Producers _ .”

“I agree,” Clary said. “I’m not in the mood for your weird movies, Mags.”

“Fine,” Magnus said with a sigh as he parked in front of Ragnor’s home. “We’ll keep it classic and ‘normal’. I do want the record to show that I did try to make our last theater sleepover exciting.”

“The record is duly noted,” Catarina said as she grabbed her things out of his trunk.

***

Midway through, they decided it was time to take a break and order pizzas. Out of the corner of his eye as Ragnor called the local pizza place and Catarina went off for a bathroom break, Magnus spotted Clary checking her phone. He scooted over to her and put his arm around her shoulders.

“So,” Magnus drew out, “how goes it with the many boys after your hand?”

“It’s going,” Clary said bashfully.

“Do you know who asked me to ask you out for him yesterday?” he asked.

She tilted her head. “Who?”

“Sebastian Verlac practically chased me down asking me to put in a good word for you.”

She groaned and put her face in her hands. He gently shook her.

“Can you blame him? The boy is smart and cute. It’s not his fault he doesn’t have the fire needed for our fiery redhead. Unlike certain other blond baseball players.”

She peaked her face out from her hands and gave him a sheepish smile before quietly saying, “Jace says he wants to take me out tomorrow after the game.”

“You’re going?” 

“Maybe?”

Magnus gave her a side eye and she blushed.

“Yes,” she amended.

He pressed a chaste kiss to her cheek. “That’s my Biscuit. You know how to make this old man proud.”

She rolled her eyes. “Magnus, you’re only a few months older than me.”

“So,” Magnus said as he leaned his head on her shoulder, “now that I have done such a wonderful deed in helping your lovelife, I was wondering if you could possibly return the favor?”

“What?” Clary said as she shifted away from him. “What are you talking about?”

“I was wondering if you could possibly cover for me tomorrow,” he told her quietly. “If anyone asks, could you say that you were hanging out with me? Particularly, if that person’s name rhymes with Shmosmodeus?”

She watched him carefully before saying in the same low tone, “Maybe. On one stipulation. Who are you actually going to be with?”

Magnus worried his lip for a moment before answering, “I can’t say.”

She furrowed her brows, a look of concern coming over her face. “You’re not--it’s not-- _ her _ ?”

Magnus shook his head furiously. “By the Angels, no. Absolutely not.” He sighed. “I’m seeing a guy.”

Clary got a wolfish look over her face. “‘A guy’? No guy in particular?”

“No guy in particular,” Magnus said coyly. “I just don’t want my dad to ask uncomfortable questions if I come home late. Better to have an alibi”

She straightened up, a smug look on her face, as she held out her hand. “Fine. You’ve got yourself an accomplice. Anyone asks questions, you were with me.”

Magnus shook her hand. “This is why you’re my favorite, Biscuit.”

“I know it,” she said as she wrapped him into a hug.

***

Magnus munched happily on one of the fries out of the bag in the center console. 

“It was a close call,” Alec told him after taking a sip from his drink, “but by a nose the ump called it for Jace.”

“Sounds like they made the right call,” he told him as he bit down. “Clearly they knew good players when they saw them.”

“We play hard,” Alec said, “but we play clean. It was a good game.”

“Sad I missed it.”

“I’m sure the audience wasn’t. You were magnificent on Thursday. I can only imagine how you were tonight.”

“Aren’t you just the charmer, Mr. Prom King?” Magnus said as he leaned in closer to Alec.

Alec gave him a scampish look. “I doubt I’m even on the short list of who people would nominate.”

Magnus ran a finger along Alec’s jaw. “You never know. Nominations start next week.” His eyes locked onto Alec’s. “I’ve got my vote.”

“Why would I want to be prom king,” Alec began as he reached and put his arm around Magnus’ waist, “when the only person I would want to dance with at prom is in front of me?”

Magnus’ eyes widened. “Is this how you’re asking me to prom? Or is this how you convince me to get into the backseat with you?”

“Why not both?”

Alec gave Magnus one of those smiles that took his breath away. His face was so open and relaxed, his hazel eyes gazing deeply into Magnus’. Magnus couldn’t help it as he leaned in, tasting the lemonade Alec had been drinking on his lips. Alec responded in kind, mouth opening and his tongue dipping into Magnus’. Magnus sighed into the kiss, his fingers running through the hairs at the base of Alec’s neck.

Alec broke the kiss and took a shaky breath. “Are you serious? About…?

“If you want,” Magnus whispered. “If you’re ready.” Magnus licked his lips, eyes meeting Alec’s. “Are you serious too? Is that how you would want to come out? Prom?”

Alec leaned his forehead against Magnus’, pressing a chaste kiss to his lips before answering. “Yeah. I think so. Yeah. I know it’s a couple weeks away, but I think so. I think I’ll be ready.”

Alec swallowed hard. Magnus gently rubbed his hand against Alec’s cheek before leaning back in and joining his lips to Alec’s again. Alec’s kisses were harder now, more intense. He gripped Magnus’ hip over the console and brought him in closer. Magnus’ hand moved down to Alec’s chest, feeling the hard muscle there beneath the thin cotton of his t-shirt. He found Alec’s nipple through the fabric, gently grazing over it and eliciting a moan from him.

Alec’s lips parted and he breathed hard. “How do we…?”   
Magnus shrugged. “Easier to just get out and get back in.”

Alec nodded and the two untangled, each slamming their respective doors behind them as they climbed into the back seat. Alec looked nervous when Magnus saw him in the dim car light. 

He swallowed and told him, “Alexander, we don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”

Alec leaned in, grabbing the collar of Magnus’ jacket and pulling him toward him. “No, you don’t have anything to worry about. I want this.”

Alec clumsily began pulling at Magnus’ jacket, which Magnus shrugged off in response. He pulled Alec into another kiss before reaching down to the bottom of Alec’s shirt. Alec broke the kiss and yanked off his shirt, then brought Magnus flush against him. Magnus climbed between Alec’s legs as he leaned back and pulled Magnus on top of him. Magnus ran his fingers down Alec’s chest, mouths joined in a heated kiss before he blindly worked at the fly of Alec’s jeans. Alec let out a soft moan and started to pull off Magnus' shirt as well. 

It was more skin to skin contact than the two had ever had the chance to have together before. Alec’s chest was much rougher than the soft breasts of the girls Magnus had been with, the coarse hair and hard muscle rubbing against his much smoother and almost entirely hairless chest. Magnus groaned before moving his way down Alec’s exposed torso, leaving small kisses in his wake. He was practically down on the floor behind the driver’s side seat when he reached the top of Alec’s jeans and looked up at him for permission. Even in the dimness of the car, he could see the hazy desire in Alec’s eyes. Alec licked his kiss-swollen lips and nodded, making Magnus in turn gently yank down the front of Alec’s pants and boxer briefs down to his ankles and revealing Alec’s thick erect cock.

Magnus leaned in, pressing teasing kisses to Alec’s thighs before delicately licking a stripe along the underside of the shaft. He cherished the choked moans and whines Alec made as he teased him before gently holding the base of his cock with one hand and bringing the head into his mouth. Already the tip was generously leaking precum.

_ I don’t think he’s going to last long, _ Magnus thought.  _ Better make every second count. _

Magnus worked his mouth slowly down the length of Alec’s erection, swiping his tongue all along the underside inside his mouth as he gently applied suction. Even from his disadvantaged view, he could see Alec’s head tilted back and his mouth open wide as he let out choked stilted moans. Magnus bobbed his head up and down, enjoying the sounds Alec made and the feeling of Alec’s tip hitting the back of his throat as he gingerly brought his other hand up and reached underneath Alec. With a dry finger, he slowly teased Alec’s hole, eliciting a loud moan and expletive from Alec.

“Magnus, I’m--”

Magnus felt Alec begin to throb in his mouth and the back of his throat fill with Alec’s seed. Magnus swallowed it down and worked Alec through his orgasm until the sounds of his pleasure no longer filled the car. After he was finished, he took his mouth off of him in a gentle  _ pop _ and reached up to give Alec a sloppy, open mouthed kiss.

“Angel save me,” Alec breathed out ragged against him. “I didn’t know it would feel like that.”

Magnus smirked, pulling Alec into another kiss and letting him taste himself on his tongue. Alec groaned as he reached between them to the zipper of Magnus pants. 

“Let me know if I’m doing this right,” Alec whispered as his hand dove in and began stroking Magnus.

Magnus moaned and yanked his pants down to give Alec better access.

“Believe me,” Magnus said as he pressed open-mouthed kisses to Alec’s neck, “you’re doing great.”

The angle was a bit awkward and it was pretty clear that Alec had never given someone else a handjob before based on the clumsiness of his strokes, but all of the stimulation ahead of time and the pleasure Magnus had received in giving Alec head was enough to bring him pretty close already. Alec brought the hand that wasn’t wrapped around Magnus’ cock up to his chest and began to eagerly rub at one of Magnus’ nipples. The combined sensations was enough to bring Magnus over the edge, his cum painting Alec’s chest and stomach in thick streaks.

Magnus heaved in a few breaths before he threw himself down onto the seat next to Alec and leaned in over him, avoiding the mess on Alec’s front to kiss him.

“You’re amazing,” Magnus breathed out against Alec.

Alec let out a half laugh and reached a hand over to Magnus’ cheek. “Speak for yourself.”

He glanced down and grimaced. “Do you have, uhm?” He motioned to his chested.

Magnus nodded, reaching over to the front seat and pulling out a few napkins from one of the bags from their meal and handing them to Alec. Alec made an appreciative noise and carefully began wiping at his chest, trying to not move too much so it wouldn’t run off of him and onto the seat. Once he was mostly cleaned up, they slowly began redressing.

“So,” Magnus said, “wasn’t too cliche was it? First time being in the backseat of my car?”

Alec huffed out a laugh and grabbed Magnus by the back of his neck, pulling him into a long closed-mouth kiss.

“No. Just the right amount of cliche.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys like this one! I got stuck in a couple of spots, but I think I like how this one turned out. Let me know what you think, I appreciate all comments!
> 
> The next chapter may take a little bit to come out. I'm going to be moving back to my home country in a few days, so I'll have to dedicate some time to clearing out my current place. Hopefully a transcontinental flight will give me plenty of time to write though!
> 
> Chapter title from "Romeo" by Chairlift.


	6. Chapter 6: Not Like I'm Countin' the Days

Clary was leaning against Magnus’ locker when he walked into the Institute on Monday morning. Her eyes were locked on him, arms crossed, and a self-satisfied look on her face. He sauntered over, head held high.

“What a lovely surprise, Biscuit,” he said. “Usually it’s me waiting for you.”

“I came in with my step-dad this morning, so I got in extra early,” she said as she moved over to give him access to his locker.

Magnus raised a brow at her as he entered in his combination. “Wanted to check out some of the boys coming in for early morning workouts?”

She gave him a cheeky smile and said, “Only one.”

“Hot blond?” Magnus asked. “About my height? Kinda beefy and always looking way-too-pleased with himself?”

“Maybe,” she answered. “And maybe he’s not as much of a jerk as his face might make you think.”

“What you’re saying then,” he began as he pulled out the books he needed for first period, “is that the date went well?”

She had a love struck look on her face as she nodded. “He was actually really charming. He took me out to some fancy Italian fusion place, and we just talked and talked.”

“Does he like all the correct teams?” Magnus asked teasingly. “Like the right music and movies? Does he have thoughts on Michael Angelo?”

She gave him a teasing look and crossed her arms. He just chuckled and slammed his locker shut.

“He’s funny,” she said as they began walking together. “And thoughtful. Very gentlemanly.”

“All things you deserve, Biscuit,” he said, suddenly getting serious. “I don’t think I remember seeing you this cutesy over someone since before the summer. And all after one date!”

“Two, actually,” Clary corrected. “We ended up meeting up again on Sunday. More casual, we just had fun hanging out at the park.”

Magnus’ eyes widened. “Clearly I underestimated the two of you. I guess you always were the type to jump into things head first.”

“We didn’t jump into everything. It was just talking,” she said defensively. “Barely any making out.”

Magnus playfully bumped her shoulder with his. “That’s my girl.”

“Funnily enough,” she began, “we did do a lot of talking. Lots of different things came up, including a very interesting conversation Jace apparently had with his best friend.”

Magnus tensed his shoulders instinctively, but feigned benign ignorance as he asked, “Oh? Do you mean Alec?”

“Obviously,” she said with an eye roll. “Playing dumb doesn’t suit you. You know who Jace’s best friend is, Magnus.”

“What about him?”

“It seems that Jace had been under the impression that Alec has been dating some girl for a while,” she said. “Said he’s been trying and failing miserably at being secretive about it because he’s always texting with someone and won’t say who, and in general Alec hasn’t had ‘as much of a stick up his ass’. Anyways, he apparently asked Jace if he could cover for him and say that they were out together on Saturday night.” 

“Must have been seeing that girlfriend of his,” Magnus said evasively.

“ _Must_ have,” Clary said, jabbing her finger into his chest. “Strange coincidence that I could have literally been describing you and how you’ve been acting for the past month.”

“Coincidences do happen, Fairchild,” he said avoidantly.

“Including both of you requesting BFF cover ups on the same night? Magnus, I’m not stupid, and don’t think that I bought that ‘we’re just friends’ act for a minute.” She took him aside and said in a low voice, “Look, whatever you and him have going on, you have my support. Unconditionally.”

“I know,” he said quietly. “I know you’re in my corner. But this isn’t about me. My boyfriend, _whoever he may be_ , isn’t out. And it’s not easy coming out in Idris. If you haven’t noticed, our little group hasn’t exactly been winning any popularity contests.”

“I know that. I remember what it was like,” she said quietly before she leaned in and whispered, “It’s just that...I figured it out a mile away. I’m almost certain Ragnor and Catarina know and are just trying to be respectful or whatever, despite how rude Rags can definitely be about it. But the thing is, it wasn’t me that brought it up on the date. Jace asked about you. That’s when he brought up Alec.” 

She watched him for a moment, trying to gage his reaction. He wasn’t sure exactly how to feel about that. They did the interview together and he knew that at least a few of Alec’s friends must have read it. They would have known that the two were at the very least friendly. How friendly they thought they were though, Magnus couldn’t say.

“Magnus,” she began, “whatever you two got up to...are you sure it’s a secret?”

Magnus furrowed his brow, and said, “What do you--”

Suddenly, the bell rang, alerting them to the fact that they were now officially going to be late to first period.

“Shoot, let’s go,” Clary said as she quickly pulled him along. “We’ll talk later. And don’t think I missed you calling him your ‘boyfriend’.”

Magnus had assumed that ‘later’ time would be lunch. He quickly realized he was wrong as he began eating with Catarina and Ragnor, and watched as Clary sat instead with Jace and the other jocks and their girlfriends. Magnus pursed his lips as he watched her tiny red haired head bobbing in laughter to some joke.

“Looks like Clary Fairchild has another boyfriend,” Ragnor said in a bored tone.

“I don’t get it,” Magnus said. “When she was with Simon, she still sat with us.”

“That’s because Simon is a drifter,” Catarina stated plainly. “He sits with whoever his girlfriend is sitting with. When he was dating that girl from band, he sat with the band kids. When he dated Clary, he sat with us. Now that he’s dating that Maia girl, he sits with all the guys in journalism and yearbook.”

“Clary isn’t a ‘drifter’, as you say, though,” Magnust stated.

“No, she’s not,” Ragnor agreed. “But have you ever known Clary Fairchild to not commit herself fully to something? She’s in two clubs and she’s president of _both_ of them, she’s known what art school she was going to go to since ninth grade, and she has only missed going to one school sporting event in the entirety of her highschool career, and that’s only because she was going full Linda Blaire from stomach flu.”

 _The first game she missed and the first game I ever went to,_ Magnus thought. _If she hadn’t gotten sick, I might not have ever gotten the chance to make up an excuse to talk to Alec._

“I guess it makes sense,” Magnus said pensively.

_Jace is a jock, and the jocks sit together. Who was I kidding to think that them being together would mean all of us sitting together? Half the guys at that table have thrown my stuff in the dumpsters behind the cafeteria._

“It’ll be fine, “ Cat assured him. “She’s a big girl, she can take care of herself.”

He nodded and listened along as Catarina and Ragnor happily chatted through lunch. Ragnor grabbed his arm as he complained about the most recent lab assignment for chemistry.

“You’re good at this mixing and playing around with chemicals, Magnus,” he whined. “Can you find it in your heart to help one of your dearest and oldest friends?”

“Cat not helping you anymore?”

“More like ‘Cat not letting him get away with trying to foist his science homework on her anymore’,” she said in a bored monotone. “Don’t spoil him, Magnus. Give him an inch, he’ll take a mile.”

“Not true!” Ragnor exclaimed defensively. “I won’t have my good name besmirched! I ask to copy one assignment a few weeks ago, suddenly I’m the laziest person in the world to her.”

“‘One assignment’? You know you wouldn’t have passed geometry if I hadn’t solved half of the answers for you,” she said. “I’m literally the reason you’re going to walk at graduation.”

“When you’re best friends with the valedictorian, shouldn’t that come with some perks?” Ragnor asked weakly before turning to Magnus. “You know I’m all soft sciences and liberal arts. I could give you the birth and death dates of any given Baroque composer, but the effects of heat on sulfuric acid? I’m lost. Please, Bane.”

“If I must,” Magnus said with a playful eyeroll. “Send me a link to what you’ve done so far, I can look over it.”

“You are a doll,” Ragnor said before sticking out his tongue to Catarina.

Catarina shook her head disapprovingly and Magnus grinned as his phone buzzed.

 **Alexander** **  
****12:17PM** **  
****I’m not sure what’s worse: when my friends are pining after girls or when they bring them to sit with us and act like complete fools.**

 **Magnus** **  
****12:18PM** **  
****Is Jace embarrassing himself?**

 **Alexander** **  
****12:18PM** **  
****He’s certainly embarrassing me.**

Magnus laughed, feeling lighter already. 

“Lightwood say something funny?” Cat asked innocuously. 

“How do you know I was texting Alec?” Magnus responded evasively. “I could be messaging anyone.”

“Because you aren’t as sly as you think you are,” she told him. “You only text like five people and two of them are sitting here. Also, I can see your screen.”

Magnus clutched his phone to his chest. Ragnor and Cat exchanged a look of annoyance.

“You know that we know you’re friends, right?” he said more so than asked. “It’s not some big dirty secret.”

“That doesn’t mean I want you to be able to read my texts,” Magnus said as he ripped off a piece of naan bread he had packed that morning and dipped it into his hummus.

“I wasn’t, I promise,” she assured him. “I just happened to glimpse his name, that’s all.”

Magnus felt his phone vibrate against his chest and glanced down at it. He eyed Cat suspiciously and she very exaggeratingly turned to face Ragnor.

 **Alexander  
** **12:19PM** **  
****Doing anything after school today?**

 **Magnus** **  
****12:20PM** **  
****I was going to do some catchup for english but i could be persuaded to do something else ;)**

Magnus glanced up over to where Alec was seated between Raj and Jace. He could see him pause for a moment to bite his lip before typing out his message

 **Alexander** **  
****12:21PM** **  
****If you’re sure. I’ve been told I can be very distracting.**

Magnus tilted his head and felt a grin creep over his face.

 **Magnus** **  
****12:21PM** **  
****Meet me at my place at 330?**

 **Alexander** **  
****12:22PM** **  
****It’s a date.**

***

Magnus walked towards his car I'm the parking lot, already feeling the jittery excitement of having Alec in his home all alone for a few hours. He knew his father shouldn’t be home until around six, which meant at least a couple of hours alone with Alec.

_And this time it shouldn’t be cramped up in a backseat of a car that smells like french fries._

He did his best to play it cool on his way to his car at least. However, before he reached the door, he was intercepted.

“Magnus!” he heard someone call behind him.

He turned, not initially recognizing the voice. Much to his chagrin, it was Sebastian Verlac. He had caught him a few times throughout the day in various classes trying to catch his eye, but he’d been successfully avoiding him up to this point. While Sebastian seemed nice enough and he’d never subjected him to the kinds of harassment some of the other jocks had, they weren’t exactly friends. The fact that Clary was very clearly now dating Jace also made Magnus feel pretty awkward about the guy trying to get his attention. 

_Not all guys can take a hint,_ he thought. _Persistence works for some, but Clary’s always been more into pursuing than being pursued. Definitely not her type at all._

“Sebastian,” he said, trying to sound casual. “How’s it going?”

He let out a stilted sigh and said, “Not great. I thought we agreed you would talk to Clary for me?”

Magnus cocked his head. _‘We agreed’?_

“I spoke to her,” he said slowly. “I told her that you were interested, but she wasn’t.”

Sebastian let out a strained laugh. “What are you talking about? You didn’t work your magic?”

“I may have a way with words, but Clary is her own person. If she decided to go out with Jace, that was her decision.”

“What did you tell her, exactly?” Sebastian asked. “I find it hard to believe that she would just start going out with Jace on a whim. She’s a nice girl and he’s a total arse.”

Magnus could feel himself start to lose what little patience he had for this conversation. “Like I said, she’s a big girl who’s going to make her own decisions about who she wants to date. Even if he’s rough around the edges, clearly there’s something about him she likes.”

He huffed. “Clearly. Of course, girls like her are always going to choose arseholes over nice guys.”

“You know,” Magnus said, stepping up and putting his face up close to Sebastian’s, “you keep saying you’re such a nice guy. Actual nice guys don’t have to say it.”

Sebastian sneered. “Like you would know. We both know that you could’ve spoken up on my behalf, but you had your own motivations, didn’t you?”

Magnus shook his head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Yeah, right,” Sebastian said with a twisted smile, his voice cold. “Like one of the first things the guys on the team did when you started hanging around and going to games to stare at Lightwood’s arse wasn’t showing me your pictures. Unless you were too _tied up_ to notice that everyone knows you get off on being a freak.”

“Walk away,” Magnus commanded through gritted teeth. 

“Whatever,” he said haughtily as he took a step back. “You could’ve had a friend, Bane.”

“Like I would want anything to do with someone like you,” Magnus said contemptuously as he turned and moved toward his car.

“You’d be surprised at what me and my circle are like,” Sebastian called as he walked off.

Magnus ignored him as he loaded up his things into his car before slamming the door behind him, mood quickly soured by the Brit. He thumped his forehead onto his steering wheel and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down.

 _Why does Alec even hang around assholes like him?_ Magnus thought. 

In the back of his mind, he knew it was because they were all on the same team, but it still didn’t keep him from being annoyed by it. It wasn’t any wonder that Alec hadn’t come out already. He probably couldn’t trust half the guys on the team as far as he could throw them. Though in the back of his head, he wondered if it was true that the guy on the team still had his pictures and had shown them to Sebastian. Based on what he had implied, he had at least seen a few of them.

He knew that there were still plenty of people who had pictures of him that Camille had taken. While there were definitely a lot of things that he had enjoyed in their physical relationship, and even things he had truly liked about her as a person, one thing she had liked that he didn’t care for was the humiliation aspect of the kinky stuff she had introduced to him. The pictures had been a big part of that.

The question that nagged at him was, _If the other players have them and if they had shown them to Sebastian, does Alexander know?_

He shook his head, as if the act of shaking his head would shake loose the thought of her. That was a train of thought he didn’t care to pursue. He had to remind himself that Alec wasn’t Camille. If he knew, he would have told him. He trusted Alec enough to know that Alec wouldn’t keep something like that from him.

He started driving, letting the road distract him and help him relax from the aggravating conversation. By the time he had finally gotten home, he had cooled off most of the way. 

_One persistent asshole isn’t going to ruin my date._

He went up to his room, examining himself in the mirror and grabbing a tissue to fix where his eye makeup had smudged over the course of the day. He wanted to look as good as possible, as he always wanted to, but in particular now because he didn’t have that much time until Alec got there. He hummed to himself as he looked around his room, trying to tidy up and put away things to busy himself before he finally heard the doorbell go off. 

Magnus restrained himself not to fly down the stairs, as much as he wanted to, instead taking each step one at a time before swinging the door open.

“Alexander,” he purred.

“Magnus,” Alec said cheerfully as he stepped over the threshold and toed off his shoes. “How was your day?”

Magnus shrugged and closed the door. “It was alright. Significantly better now though.”

Alec beamed for a moment before leaning down to meet Magnus’ lips with his own. Alec hummed into the kiss before breaking it.

“Do you have the house to yourself?”

“ _We_ have the house to ourselves for a little over two hours,” Magnus informed him as he took his hand and led him upstairs.

“This,” Alec said, letting himself be pulled along, “is very good news.”

"Obviously it means more time to work on my English assignment, right?" Magnus asked facetiously as he brought Alex into his room.

Alec rolled his eyes in response, closing the door behind him. “Do you really have some big English assignment, or are you just trying to turn me down gently?”

“I always have some assignment,” he told him as he threw himself across his bed. “Some are for class, some are for clubs, some are for me.”

Alec laid himself out on the bed next to him and asked, “Any pressing personal assignments?”

“There hasn’t been any pressing yet today,” Magnus said as he leaned over, his face hovering next to Alec’s, “but I’m sure they could definitely use some pressing.”

Alec rolled his eyes and leaned in the rest of the way, bringing Magnus into a kiss.

“Mmm,” Magnus hummed as he pulled back. “See, plenty of pressing that could be done there.”

Magnus swiped Alec’s bang to the side to get a fuller view of his face. Alec was ridiculously handsome to Magnus, looking more like someone who should be in the underwear catalogue Magnus had stored under his mattress when he was in seventh grade more so than being on top of it.

“You should keep your hair pushed out of your face,” Magnus said. “It’s such a good face, such a shame to hide it behind a bunch of hair.”

“I’m not hiding my face,” Alec said as he crossed his arms in front of himself. “You wear makeup, you’re the one hiding your face.”

“No,” Magnus stated with a hand flourish. “I’m accentuating my features, not hiding anything. There’s a difference.”

Alec smiled playfully, brow raised, and said, “What you’re saying is that you know you’re already beautiful.”

“Of course,” Magnus said, matching his tone. “Though it’s nice to hear you say I’m beautiful.”

“Can’t deny what’s in front of me,” Alec said with a half shrug before pausing. “Which of my features would you accentuate?”

Magnus shifted to face him more fully and watched him curiously. “What, are you interested in a makeover?”

Alec shrugged. “Makeup isn’t really my thing, but you seem to like it. You wear stuff on your face everyday, even though you don’t need it.”

“I’m not hearing ‘no’?”

“I dunno,” Alec said, looking all around Magnus’ face but his eyes. “What would you change?”

“Alexander,” Magnus chided, scooting off of the bed and grabbing his supplies, “I don’t change anything. I emphasize and I add flair.” He laid out some of his pallets onto the bed and clambered up on top of Alec’s lap. “Besides, I wouldn’t want to change anything about you. I like you as is.”

Alec stared up at Magnus and said in a near whisper, “I’m at your mercy. Do with me what you will.”

“Don’t tempt me,” he told him, earning a smirk from Alec. “Now lie back.”

Alec reclined onto the pillows as Magnus pulled out a few of his favorite colors and ones he thought would bring out the color of Alec’s eyes. Alec watched him as he compared shades of shadows to each other and pulled out various brushes.

“So what are you going to do to me?” he asked as he glanced over the various items Magnus had brought out.

“The plan was whatever I wanted to, wasn’t it?” Magnus teased.

“Yeah, but,” he started, “you were supposed to interpret that in a sexy way.”

Magnus wiggled his hips as he shifted around to exchange one of the pallets he was holding. “Who says it’s not sexy having my boyfriend underneath me and subject to my every whim?”

Alec shook his head playfully as he said, “I guess this just wasn’t the kind of ‘whim’ I was hoping for.”

“Close your eyes,” Magnus commanded. Alec did as he was told and Magnus took Alec’s hands and put them on his hips. He felt his warm fingertips playing with the edge of his shirt as he began to coat his brush with the first color he wanted to apply. “See, not much different than what I might usually like to have you doing on your back. Except now I need you to not flinch.”

“Hey,” Alec protested, “there hasn’t been any flinching.”

“Not yet,” Magnus said with a smirk as he began to apply brush strokes to his top lid with the barest touch. 

He kept his touch as delicate as possible as he applied the color to Alec’s eyes, gently blending together the colors. He was close enough that he could feel his measured breathing against his face and he was trying to not get distracted by the persistent fingers running their way around the skin under his shirt. He paused for a moment looking at Alec’s handsome face, relaxed and open. He licked his lips, thinking about his confrontation with Sebastian.

“Alexander,” he said softly.

Alec hummed in response to confirm he was listening.

“If you knew that one of your friends did something shitty, you would call them out, right?”

“Yeah,” he said, cracking open one of his eyes. “I have to give them shit for the things they do all the time. Don’t know if you noticed, my friends can be assholes.”

“Yes, they can,” Magnus breathed out. 

He saw Alec furrow his brow. “Did one of them do something?”

He ran his fingers over Alec’s eyebrows as if he could smooth them out manually. “Everything’s fine. I just wanted to ask and get further confirmation that you’re a really good guy. More reasons to like you.”

He felt Alec squeeze his side reassuringly and he continued to work in colors. He figured it was best to just stick with eye shadows. They would be easiest to wash off and he wouldn’t have to deal with the hassle of applying mascara or eyeliner onto a guy who didn’t even wear contacts and thus had zero experience with having things up close to his eyes. Every so often he would murmur instructions softly to Alec, like ‘look up’ or ‘turn your head’, and he obliged every time, though his hands moved steadily higher and higher up Magnus’ shirt. He dusted away some of the fallout that had gotten over Alec’s cheeks and admired his handiwork. He set down his tools onto the bedside table and pulled out one of his pallets with a built-in mirror.

“I am done,” Magnus informed him as he held up the mirror. “Open your eyes and check it out.”

Alec didn’t move his hands, instead just opening his eyes and looking over what Magnus had done. He nodded as he looked himself over.

“Cool,” Alec said. “Lots of, uh, brown. And purple. And sparkles.”

Magnus felt a little crestfallen. “You hate it.”

“No, no,” Alec said. “Like I said, I’m just not a makeup person, so this is all pretty foreign to me. But you like it, and I like you. And that I got to feel you up the whole time, so that was a major plus.”

“It was very distracting,” Magnus said as he rolled his hips downward onto Alec’s lap, earning a small gasp. He couldn’t help but feel a little self-satisfied as he felt that Alec was at least half hard in his jeans. “I hope you had a lot of fun with that.”

“Oh, I plan to have more,” Alec said as he yanked Magnus’ shirt upwards and threw it toward the foot of the bed. He leaned up, gripping Magnus by the back of the neck and bringing their lips crashing together.

Magnus laced his fingers through Alec’s hair and enjoyed the sensation of Alec’s calloused hands moving over the sensitive skin of his stomach and chest. His enjoyment of the moment was cut dead short when he heard a soft knock at his bedroom door and felt like he had a bucket of cold water dumped on him.

“Magnus,” he heard his father call through the door.

“Yes, Father?” he called back, his voice unintentionally cracking.

“Am I correct in assuming that the car parked out front is Alec Lightwood’s?”

Magnus looked down nervously at Alec. “Yes, you are.”

“First and last warning: no closed doors. Alec, are you staying for dinner?”

Alec glanced up at Magnus and cleared his throat. “No, my mom is cooking tonight.”

“Alright,” Asmodeus said through the door. “I’ll be back in two minutes, this door better be open.”

“It will,” Magnus called back. 

He looked down at Alec, whose face was thoroughly red.

“Let’s get that stuff off of you,” Magnus said as he got up off of Alec’s lap and grabbed a makeup wipe. “Clearly the universe is saying that there can only be one of us that looks this fabulous.”

Magnus wiped gently at Alec’s eyes, picking up as much pigment as he could.

“Shame,” Alec said as Magnus worked. “You only just finished it.”

“That’s the beauty and the tragedy of makeup as an art form,” he said. “It’s entirely ephemeral.”

“Pretty while it lasted?” Alec asked as Magnus pulled out a fresh wipe to clean up the remnants of makeup left after the first wipe.

Magnus leaned in and pressed a kiss to Alec’s cheek and said, “You’re always pretty.”

“Sounds like you’re trying to butter me up. When your dad asked if I was staying for dinner, did it mean I was the one on the menu?”

“You do look good enough to eat,” Magnus told him, finishing up cleaning off the last of the makeup. “Do you actually have to go home, or are you just trying to avoid the awkward dad conversation?”

Alec screwed up his face and said, “Both?” 

Magnus nodded, pressing one last kiss to Alec’s lips before getting off the bed and shrugging back on his discarded shirt. He turned to Alec and clapped his hands together.

“Ready to face the music?”

He shrugged in response and Magnus opened the door. He had expected him to be waiting, as promised, but instead he could hear his father moving things around downstairs. Magnus made a small frown, realizing his father had been bluffing about coming to check. 

Alec got up off of the bed and slung his backpack over his shoulder. “I should head out. It was nice though, hanging out.”

“Yeah,” Magnus said as he turned to him and leaned forward. “It was.”

Alec pressed a chaste kiss to his lips before letting Magnus walk him out. Asmodeus joined them in the front entryway, arms crossed and back straight.

“Next time you come over to spend time here, let me know ahead of time,” he said. “That way I can order enough food for the three of us.”

Alec nodded stiffly and said, “Yes, sir.”

“See you at school tomorrow?” Magnus asked.

“Yeah, see you around.”

Magnus watched as Alec slipped his shoes back on and walked out to his car before closing the door and facing his father. Asmodeus looked at him expectantly before nodding his head toward the dining room.

“Come on,” he said. “Dinner’s getting cold.”

He followed his father to where he had already set the table. He let his father serve himself first before taking his share.

“So, did you have a good day today?” Asmodeus said, starting the conversation casual before the questions Magnus was already dreading.

“Mostly,” he said. “Clary has a new boyfriend.”

“Good for her,” he said. “Is he nice?”

“He’s alright, I don’t know him that well,” Magnus half-lied. 

He didn’t know Jace very well on a one-on-one basis, but he knew enough from afar as well as from things Alec had told him that he was supposedly a decent enough guy. His own personal experiences would have indicated that he wasn’t, but Jace hadn’t messed with him for months now and he wasn’t going to go around telling his father that one of his friends was dating one of his semi-former bullies.

 _He at least wasn’t as bad as some of the other guys were_ , he thought.

“How was work? You were kinda early coming home,” Magnus said in an even tone.

“Thought you would have the house to yourself for a while? It’s allergy season,” Asmodeus stated. “I need to pick up a prescription so I cut my office hours short today. I thought it would be nice to pick up something for dinner and get to sit down to eat with my son.”

Magnus nodded, suddenly very interested in staring down at the meal in front of him. He heard his father sigh and he looked up to meet his eyes.

“Look, Magnus,” he began, “I understand you have your boyfriend and you two might want to get intimate. You’re not a child anymore. But you’re still my child. I just want you to be careful, okay?”

“Dad, we had the condom talk when I was in eighth grade,” he said, averting his eyes back to his food. “I remember.”

“I know,” Asmodeus said. “A reminder doesn’t hurt though, does it? Or a simple request to message me if he’s going to be coming over? I like Alec and all, but it’s not exactly a nice surprise to come home to your child having sex.”

Magnus nearly choked on his food. “We weren’t--”

“It’s fine. It may be difficult to believe, but I was your age too once,” Asmodeus told him before he took a sip of water. “You’re both consenting adults. In the future though, as a courtesy to your father, just let me know if he’s going to be here so I can tell you when I’ll be home and we can avoid having this sort of conversation.”

Magnus nodded and confirmed, “Yes, Father. I promise, in the future, I’ll text you.”

“Good.”

The rest of the meal went pleasantly enough. Magnus made a mental note to text Alec later to let him know how everything had gone down after he left.

 _And hopefully get to pick up where we left off,_ he thought.

***

The rest of the week went much the same as Monday. He would meet with Clary before their first class together and she’d gush about Jace, before inevitably he was sitting with Ragnor and Catarina alone while she sat at Jace’s table surrounded by the veritable Who’s Who of the Institute. By Thursday, it became clear that this would be the new norm. He didn’t even get to have the same kind of fun that Monday had promised, since Alec had been too busy to do much more than their usual texting between training and studying, so the only dates they had been able to do were over messenger with their own palms. 

“Looks like they’re campaigning in earnest now,” Ragnor said as he took a bite of his lunch. “Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the Institute’s prom king and queen.”

“A week till nominations are finalized and they’re already making a solid campaigning effort,” Magnus said. “They do make for a cute couple.”

“Clary is cute,” Catarina said. “Jace isn’t exactly my type. His eyes are cool though.”

“So what you’re saying is that he’s Ragnor’s type?” Magnus joked. “You do love those ‘distinctive features’, don’t you Rags?”

“Those eyes do it for me,” he conceded. “If only the personality matched the looks. I’m not into braggadocious jocks.”

Cat whistled and said, “Pulling out the ten dollar words.”

“I didn’t take those SAT prep courses for nothing,” Ragnor said as he pretended to flip his hair back.

Magnus watched Clary as she mingled with all of the others at the table, her easy interactions with everyone else there. It almost looked like she could have always been sitting at that table with how well she fit in among the Hunters and their friends.

_She looks like she belongs there._

While Alec had humored him in letting him put makeup on him, that wasn’t Alec by a longshot. Alec’s wardrobe and presentation was so simplistic with simple jeans and tshirt looks and hair that just had a touch of gel, not like Magnus’ glittery eye looks and embroidered jackets. Alec could and did pass for straight while Magnus didn’t want to. Even if Magnus were to dress the part to look like he could fit in among Alec’s friends, he knew he never could fit in like Clary could. Her adoption into their group had been seamless, but he was cut from a different cloth.

Magnus cleared his throat and said, “If they win their game against Edom on Saturday, it’ll be in the bag for sure.”

Catarina eyed him. “Are you going?”

“I was thinking I would,” he said, trying to sound casual.

“Magnus Bane,” Ragnor teased. “The epitome of school spirit.”

Cat rolled a piece of the napkin she had been fiddling with between her fingers and flicked it at Ragnor.

“Don’t be a dick,” she told him before turning to Magnus. “Not our cup of tea, but we hope you have fun.”

“Yes, I’m not one much for baseball,” Ragnor said. “If only it had been a softball player you’d become enamored with, then Cat would be there with you at every game.”

She rolled her eyes before a self-satisfied smile played across her face. “Rags, you don’t know what I get up to when you’re not around.”

“You’re not sneaking around with one of the jocks too, are you?” Ragnor asked. “I can only handle one secret love affair at a time.”

Magnus rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to tell him off, but Catarina said dryly, “Nope, no jocks for me. My secret girlfriend is on the debate team, obviously.”

Magnus smirked, and decided to play along. “Obviously you need to keep up, Fell. Where’s your secret boyfriend?”

“What?” he asked sarcastically. “The pictures of Adam Driver in my locker aren’t enough proof for you?”

Magnus and Cat laughed, but he couldn’t help but think back to earlier on in the week to what Clary had said. While his friends joked about it and it seemed to have become more or less an open secret within his own friend group whether he denied it or not, he had no clue what Alec’s friends knew. Whenever Alec brought up his friends, it was mainly to tell Magnus about something funny or dumb one of them said, or to air out his frustrations with something one of them did. As far as he was aware, no one but Alec’s sister knew.

Clary’s words rang in his ears. 

_‘Are you sure it’s a secret?’_

***

When Magnus rounded the corner to the computer lab for photography club after school, he stopped dead in his tracks as he spotted Clary and Jace together right outside the door. He almost felt as if he had walked in on a private moment with the closeness that they stood together and the way that they two gazed at each other. Whatever they were quietly discussing felt uncomfortably intimate to watch, even from afar, and he wasn’t sure what he should do. He went with leaning against some of the lockers and fiddling with his phone while he waited for them to separate.

 **Magnus** **  
****3:08PM** **  
****You guys have practice tonight right?**

 **Alexander** **  
****3:09PM** **  
****Yeah, just waiting on some of the players.**

 **Magnus** **  
****3:09PM** **  
****One of them is outside the comp lab sucking face with Clary Fairchild**

 **Alexander** ****  
**3:10PM** **  
****I’m going to kill him. If he’s late again, we’re all going to have to run suicide drills.**

Magnus sighed and thought, _Why do I have to be such a good boyfriend?_

He got up from where he was leaning and went over to the computer room door, loudly clearing his throat to alert the two lovebirds to his presence. Clary looked up over Jace’s shoulder and her face turned the same shade as her hair.

“I, uh, better get inside,” she said bashfully to him.

“Yeah, alright,” Jace said. “See you after practice? I can give you a ride home.”

She nodded, eyes bright as she stared up at him. “I’d like that. See you later.”

She turned and walked into the lab. Magnus and Jace locked eyes. Magnus pursed his lips into a tight smile as he went to follow her when Jace caught his arm.

“Hold on a second,” he said. “I wanted to talk to you.”

Magnus cautiously searched his face. He steadied himself and pulled his arm out from Jace’s grasp.

“Sure, what is it?” he asked. “Better make it quick though. We both have places to be.”

“Yeah, no, listen,” Jace said leaning in and lowering his voice. “Look, you’re Clary’s friend, right?”

Magnus narrowed his eyes and said slowly, “Yes? Why?”

Jace huffed out a breath and said, “Look, Saturday is the big game. The Edom Devils are our big rivals. I want to celebrate when we win by asking her to prom.”

Magnus was a little taken aback and stared at him, confused. “Okay. Why are you telling me this? You don’t need me to tell you to know that she’s going to say yes.”

“She usually takes the pictures for the game,” Jace explained. “I was hoping you would maybe bring your camera. Take pictures of my promposal to her.”

Magnus thought about it for a second before he shrugged.

 _It’s pretty obvious that Clary and Jace (Jary? Jarissa? Clace? Clace.) is going to be happening for a while,_ he thought. _I might as well be friendly to the guy. Plus earning his trust will probably be a big help when Alec does decide to come out._

“Sure,” he said. “Why not? I’m sure she’d appreciate that. And there’s no more fitting way to ask her.”

He clapped Magnus on the shoulder, making his whole body tense up. Magnus looked down at the hand as if it was going to burn him, but when he looked back up Jace’s face, his usually pouty lips were opened up into a beaming smile. “Thank you, man, this mean a lot.”

He dropped his hand off of Magnus and looked like he was about to turn to leave before he stopped. 

“Hey, uh, Magnus,” he began. “No hard feelings, right? About all that stuff when we were underclassmen.”

Magnus shrugged, shoulders still tight. “Right. It’s whatever. Water under the bridge.”

“Great!” Jace exclaimed, finally turning and calling back as he quickly walked off, “See ya around!”

Magnus took in a deep breath through his nose and said quietly, “See ya.”

He felt a little bit like he lost his mind with how surreal he was feeling.

 _Wingmanning for Clary is one thing,_ he thought, _b_ _ut never in a million years did I think I’d end up wingmanning for Jace Herondale._

He blinked, quickly trying to gather himself together before going into the computer lab.

“Long time, barely see, Fairchild,” he said as he sat down next to Clary and turned on his computer.

She looked over at him before averting his eyes. “What are you talking about?” she said in a stilted voice. “We see each other every day.”

“Yeah, in class,” he said. “Too busy with your bae to sit with your old friends?”

She scrunched up her nose. “Ew. Don’t ever say ‘bae’ again. It’s so unnatural coming from you.”

“Don’t avoid the question,” he said in a mock serious tone. “I love you, Biscuit. I just barely get to see you anymore. You’re always busy going to the gym before school _with Jace_ , or eating lunch _with Jace_ , or walking down the hallways holding hands _with Jace_.”

She shifted uncomfortably in her seat for a moment before furrowing her brows together and pointing at him accusingly. “You’re the one who was all gung ho about me asking him out! Don’t get mad at me that I actually really like him!”

“I’m not mad,” Magnus said defensively before he gave her a warm smile. “I’m in your corner as much as you’re in mine, remember?”

Her face softened up before she lightly tapped him on the arm with one of her small fists. “Darn tootin’. Though, speaking of you being in my corner, you’re going to the game on Saturday.”

“I am?” Magnus said, amused.

She raised her brow at him as she absentmindedly spun around in her computer chair. 

“I am,” he said with a sigh. “Have I become that predictable?”

“At this point?” she asked. “Yes. But honestly, I’m going to appreciate your company afterwards.”

He cocked his head and asked, “‘Afterwards’?”

“Did Alec not tell you?” she asked. “Raj’s parents are out of town this weekend so he’s hosting a big party after the game.”

Magnus furrowed his brow. Alec hadn’t mentioned any party, just that the game was going to be a big one as the penultimate game of the season and that it was against the Institute’s biggest rivals. He crossed his arms, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable and self-conscious. He knew why Alec probably hadn’t brought it up.

 _Why would he bother mentioning a party that I wouldn’t exactly be welcome to?_ he thought bitterly.

He knew that was a pretty uncharitable thought. He could have forgotten or he could have been planning on not going at all, but the fact that Clary was invited while he was only just hearing about it did get under his skin a little bit.

“He might’ve,” Magnus lied.

“Well, I hope you’re planning on going,” Clary told him. “As much as I like some of Jace’s friends, I could still really use a familiar face.”

Magnus put on a tight smile and said, “I’ll think about it.”

She made a whining sound and begged, “Pleeease, Mags. I could really use some of your magic to make it through it. Besides, I think we both know that you more than anyone loves a good party.”

He considered it for a moment. While Alec may not have decided to invite him, an invitation from Clary should be enough of a justification to show up. Plus if Jace was willing to come to him to ask for help for his promposal, that should mean he’d have at least one other person willing to back him up if things hit the fan. He winked at her.

She grinned and said, “That’s my guy.”

 _I better start thinking of something good to wear,_ he thought. _If I’m going into a den of Hunters, I might as well dress to impress._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for your patience in getting this chapter out! Moving back home was a bit nightmarish between delayed and cancelled flights, so it ended up being a whole extra day of travel that I hadn't anticipated, but I'm finally settled (albeit still feeling the jetlag) and I've finally finished the newest chapter. I hope you guys like it, please let me know what you think of it in the comments!
> 
> Title taken from 'So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings' by Caroline Polachek


	7. Chapter 7: Maybe There's Something Going On

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your patience, it's been much longer than I thought it would be to upload this chapter! I've been working on it, but I just about reached double my usual chapter length and decided to just split it rather than post one obscenely long chapter. The next chapter should be out quite soon, since I'm pretty far into it.

Magnus tossed and turned that night. No matter what position he tried laying down in, he just couldn’t get comfortable. He’d lay down one way and his legs would be comfortable, but then suddenly one of his shoulders would start bothering him or his pillow was too warm, before the process of trying to find a comfortable position would begin again. Finally, frustrated and tired, he sat up and looked at his phone at the last text Alec had sent him.

**Alexander** **  
** **10:44PM** **  
** **Goodnight. <3**

It was a sweet message from his sweet boyfriend, he had to remind himself. He pinched the bridge of his nose, upset with himself. He felt foolish being annoyed about this stupid party that he didn’t even know if Alec was planning on going to, but he couldn't help it. He glanced at the corner at the outfits he had begun to sort through for Saturday, but none of them felt right, each feeling too glittery, or too formal, or not dressy enough. He had never been to a party with a bunch of jocks, so trying to find the right balance of his style and what would be appropriate to what he thinks the party might be like was a challenge. He eventually had decided to give up for the time being before turning in, but everything about the party still irked him.

_ Clary's been dating Jace for a week and now she’s sitting with all of Alec’s friends and being invited out to parties, _ he thought.  _ Alec and I have been together for over a month, and I’m the dirty secret he hides from his friends. _

He hated that he felt that way, especially since he knew it wasn’t like that, that the fact that they weren’t public wasn’t about him at all. He felt petty and small for looking at his best friend’s happy relationship with her dream guy that he had even helped in trying to put together and feeling jealous. He wanted to feel happy for her, and in a way he was. And he loved getting to be with Alec, his dry witted and handsome boyfriend. He knew what he had signed up for when he started seeing a closeted guy and that he couldn’t have the cutesy holding-hands-as-they-walk-down-the-halls-together relationship Clary and Jace had, but it still stung nonetheless. Besides, Alec had already told him he was planning on coming out in a few weeks, so it wasn’t like they were going to be a secret forever.

_ ‘Are you sure it’s a secret?’ _

He half-wished that Clary had never said those words to him, since they were starting to eat him up inside. Initially he thought maybe it was just like how he was with his friends, that Alec’s friends had a feeling and knew that they were seeing each other. He knew that his sister Isabelle knew, apparently without having to tell her anything, so what’s to say that his best friend hadn’t been able to spot it a mile away either?

_ But if his friends already know, _ he thought,  _ why not tell me about the party? _

_ Maybe he’s just ashamed of you, _ answered back the little niggling voice in the back of his head.  _ Who wouldn’t be if all their friends had seen their boyfriend’s nudes? _

He sighed and ran his face over his face as he tried to shake that thought from his mind. 

_ Alexander isn’t that cruel and he isn’t that selfish, _ he reminded himself.  _ He isn’t Camille. _

He turned over, trying to banish all thoughts of everything that was bugging him about it from his head.

_ Sebastian has seen your pictures. Maybe it was Alec who-- _

Magnus didn’t even bother entertaining that thought. Of anyone, he knew Alec wouldn’t go around keeping the pictures Camille had sent around of him. Though, he did feel weird about the one time he did go into Alec’s room and saw the pictures of him with Lydia. He rolled over in bed and recalled how in that collage posted on his wall that it wasn’t just pictures where they were both together, but there was still one of the two of them kissing. He was pretty sure he had deleted or thrown out all of the pictures of his ex a long time ago. That Alec hadn’t ever done the same was strange to him, but perhaps it was because, as far as he could tell, the two were still on good terms. Her boyfriend John was even on the team with Alec.

_ That must be weird, _ he thought.  _ Hanging out with your girlfriend’s ex all the time. _

The kind of friends that Camille had weren’t the type of people Magnus could see himself wanting to hang around, but most of the ones he would have ended up seeing around campus were the ones who got expelled during his sophomore year. The few who weren’t thankfully graduated or dropped out not that long after. But he had never seen Alec or John act anything other than cordial to one another. 

None of it really made sense to him, but maybe that was just because Alec really was nothing like Camille. He wasn’t sure what to do in a relationship when the person he was dating wasn’t trying to play some kind of trick on him. He bit the inside of his cheek as he went into his messenger app and typed out a quick text to Alec.

**Magnus** **  
** **1:08AM** **  
** **Are you still up?**

**Magnus** **  
** **1:09AM** **  
** **I just wish I could hear your voice right now**

He knew it was a long shot, but he hoped maybe he could plan out a time where he could properly talk before Saturday. He mentally kicked himself for not trying when he knew Alec was still awake, but he didn’t think he’d still feel this way about it. He scrolled through the explore page on his insta for a while, hoping to distract himself from the problems he was making up in his own head. Between the pictures of shiba inus and innovative tattoo designs, he must have dozed off, because the next thing he knew he was being jolted up by a buzzing on his chest. Bleary-eyed, he looked down at his phone.

**Alexander** **  
** **5:56AM** **  
** **Just waking up. Is everything okay?**

He groaned looking at the time and flipped over onto his stomach. He wasn’t sure how many hours of sleep he got, but it definitely wasn’t enough to face the day. His alarm wasn’t set to go off for another half an hour, but he decided he wasn’t going to bother and rolled out of bed and padded over to the bathroom to relieve himself. After washing his hands and splashing water on his face, he decided to finally text Alec back. He typed up a few test messages, each he liked less than the previous before finally settling on the most innocuous thing he could think of.

**Magnus** **  
** **6:09AM** **  
** **What are you doing afterschool today?**

**Alexander** **  
** **6:10AM** **  
** **A few of the guys were going to go out, but I can skip it.**

Reading the text, he suddenly felt very guilty. 

_ What am I doing? _ he thought.  _ I’ve been getting worked up over nothing. _

While he felt bad for doubting Alec’s motivations in not telling him about the party, he wasn’t going to pass up a chance to get to spend some quality time with him if he was offering.

**Magnus** **  
** **6:10AM** **  
** **If thats okay**

**Alexander** **  
** **6:11AM** **  
** **Of course. I see those guys all the time, they can deal. Want me to come by your place?**

Magnus smiled to himself, feeling a little lighter, albeit still bone-tired from his restless night. He sent him a quick confirmation text before rolling his shoulders to try to stretch them out and wake himself up. He padded downstairs and started up the coffeemaker, waiting and watching the dark liquid drip down into the glass pot. It wasn’t much of a replacement for actual sleep, but hopefully it would get him through the day. 

“You’re up early.”

Magnus nearly jumped out of his skin at the sudden sound of his father’s voice behind him. 

He patted his face and blinked, trying to will away the sleep from his eyes. He said, “Yeah, sorry. I, uh, had an all nighter.” 

His father shook his head and pulled two mugs and two bowls down from one of the cupboards. He set down the mugs on the counter next to Magnus and the bubbling coffeemaker.

“That’s not a very efficient studying tactic,” he told him as he went over to the pantry and pulled out a box of cereal.

“I know, I know,” Magnus said. “Studying a little everyday is the way, slow and steady wins the race, yadda yadda. This was a one time thing, I promise.”

The coffeemaker let out a final hiss signalling it was ready and he poured a cup for each of them.

“Almond or soy?” his father asked.

“Soy,” Magnus answered. “I don’t think I like the aftertaste of almond milk.”

“Speak for yourself,” he said as he pulled out two cartons from the fridge and set them down on the table.

They ate their breakfast in relative silence, Magnus trying to let the caffeine work its magic.

“Oh,” he said suddenly, remembering. “Alec is coming over today after school, if that’s alright?”

“Of course it’s alright,” Asmodeus told him. “I’ll be sure to double our usual order.”

“Dad, he’s one person.”

“Yes, but he looks like he could eat.”

Magnus laughed, finishing off the last of his bowl and taking it over to the sink. He yawned as he rinsed it out. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see his father watching him.

“I’m going to give you a ride today,” Asmodeus told him.

Magnus turned and blinked at him. “What?” 

Asmodeus stood, bringing his own bowl over to where he was and said, “Alec is coming over anyway. He can give you a ride home. You’re going to be dead on your feet by the time school is out and I’m not going to have you behind the wheel like that.”

“Father,” Magnus whined. “I’m fine.”

“No buts,” he said firmly. “Now go get ready. And no more all-nighters.”

***

“You look like shit,” Ragnor said as he sat down at their lunch table.

“Thanks,” Magnus said sarcastically as he picked at his meal.

“Compared to how you usually look,” Catarina corrected. “Usually you do a little more than just some eyeliner. And your hair is kind of flat on one side.”

“It wasn’t cooperating this morning,” he said with a sigh. “And I didn’t feel like fiddling with it forever.”

“Very unlike you,” Ragnor said. “I’ve seen you show up late to redo your whole eye look when you weren’t happy with it.”

“My dad gave me a ride today,” he said as an excuse. “Can’t exactly get away with that when he’s the one driving.”

“Something wrong with your car?” Cat asked as she took a bite of her lunch.

“No,” he said simply as he pulled out his phone.

**Magnus** **  
** **12:08PM** **  
** **I just realized I never asked you. Can you give me a ride home today?**

Cat pursed her lips and said, “Okay then. Anyways, Rags, you were saying about camp this summer?”

Ragnor nodded, “Yes, they said they put through my application for camp counselor and I should hopefully hear back by next week. Build up my resume and make some cash before classes start.”

“You’re going to be a camp counselor?” Magnus asked.

“Finally, yes,” he replied, holding up a clenched fist. “After years of slacker drama counselors as a camp goer, I finally will get to be the one with power. Those kids will never be the same after my regimented theater program.”

“No one ever is,” Cat said as she made an overt shivering motion, then busted out into a laugh.

“You jest,” Ragnor said as he pointed a finger at her, “but my leadership and direction as the drama club president this year brought in some of the biggest crowds and best performances of our high school careers, and don’t even try to deny it.”

Magnus laughed, then looked down as his phone went off in his hand.

**Alexander** **  
** **12:10PM** **  
** **Sure. Meet you in the lot after last class?**

**Magnus** ****  
**12:10PM** **  
** **Youre the best. See you there**

“I can just imagine it now,” Magnus said as he slipped his phone back into his pocket. “All those chubby little seventh graders that haven’t even gotten the chance to get their growth spurts yet being ground down beneath the heel of your laux-leather ankle boots.” 

“Only to be rebuilt!” Ragnor exclaimed. “Into seasoned performers! They’ll thank me later.”

“Angels save us,” Cat muttered. “I hope you never have children.”

“You know,” he said, turning to her, “I keep trying, but for some reason no matter how many men I try it with, I have yet to fall pregnant.”

“Maybe you just haven't been with the right man,” Magnus said jokingly, putting his hand on Ragnor’s.

Ragnor pulled away from his touch and said, “In your dreams, Bane.”

“You mean my nightmares,” he retorted. 

The rest of the day seemed to drag by. He wished his father wasn’t right all the time. Even the thermos of coffee he had brought with him couldn’t save him from the post-lunch-crash. He has slept through basically all of his math class, something he knew he’d kick himself for later, but at least it gave him enough of an energy boost to make it through to the final bell. 

Walking out into the parking lot, even amongst the hustle and bustle of students going out to their cars to get home, he immediately spotted Alec’s tall form leaning up against his car. As he approached, he realized leaning up next to him was his sister, though nearly a foot shorter than her brother, it made her much harder to spot from afar.

“Isabelle,” he said as he got close, “lovely to see you.”

The two turned to look at him. Isabelle gave him one of her glamorous smiles and held out her arms to greet him with a hug, which he reciprocated.

“Magnus!” she cried. “So good to see you! Alec said he was giving you a ride.”

She pulled away and winked. 

He suppressed the urge to wink back and said, “He certainly is. Do you need to be dropped off too?”

“No,” she said as she adjusted the bag she had slung over her shoulder. “I’m staying the night with some friends. World history is kicking my butt, so we’re going to have a girls’ study night. Just came by to say ‘hi’, and of course, to humbly request to spread the word of my bid to be prom princess.”

When it came to nominations for the prom court at the Institute, the prom prince and princess were sophomores nominated by the underclassmen while the prom king and queen were seniors nominated by the upperclassmen. Magnus wasn’t surprised that Isabelle would try to get nominated once she was eligible. While she certainly wasn’t the type to crave popularity, Magnus could tell that her looks and charisma drew people to her and she wouldn’t have a hard time running.

Magnus raised a brow. “Going for princess, huh? Unfortunately I don’t know many underclassmen, not that you’ll need much help on that front, but if you’re on the ballot, you know you’ve got my vote.”

“Good!” she said with a smile. “See you boys later!”

She wiggled her fingers as she walked off. Magnus turned to Alec who gave him a small smile.

“Ready to go?” he asked.

“Whenever you are,” Magnus told him as he made his way to the passenger’s side door.

There was something that made him feel pleased about getting into Alec’s car in the school parking lot. As small as it was, it almost felt like a public acknowledgement of at least their acquaintance, if not their friendship. It wasn’t like anything close to the public displays that straight couples at the Institute showed on a daily basis, but it was more than he had been able to show with Alec for the majority of their relationship.

"So," Alec began as he started driving, "how was your day?"

"Alright," Magnus answered as he drummed his fingers on his knees. "Better now. Yours?"

"Pretty good," he said. "Though I got a weird text from my boyfriend in the middle of the night that made me worried. Then he came into school looking half asleep all day."

Magnus gave a half-hearted shrug. "Couldn't sleep," he said as an excuse.

It was the truth, after all, even if the reason was that he wanted to talk to Alec. He looked over at him, eyes mindfully on the road and his face screwed up in concentration. He quickly glanced over at Magnus and caught his eye for a moment.

“Something on your mind?” he asked.

Magnus opened his mouth before quickly closing it again. “This and that,” he said avoidantly. "Any plans for the weekend? Other than the game, I mean.”

"Not much. I was hoping to go out and practice some archery on Sunday," Alec said. "Haven't had much of a chance to lately."

"Ah, yes," he said, cracking a smile. "How could I forget? The captain of the archery team over here."

Alec huffed out a laugh and said, "Not much of a team. It's me, and sometimes a few stragglers when I can convince some of the other guys to join me."

"Friends from baseball?"

"And swim, though there's a lot of overlap," Alec replied as he pulled into Magnus’ neighborhood. "We're here."

Alec parked out front of the Bane residence and hopped out of the car to grab his bookbag from the backseat. Magnus followed suit, pulling out his keys to unlock his front door and let them inside. Once the two were up to Magnus' bedroom, Magnus flopped face down onto his bed. 

"What's all this?" he heard Alec ask.

He peeked up to see Alec indicating at the clothes strewn around over his desk chair and flipped onto his back. 

"Trying to plan," he answered.

"Got a fashion show or something?" Alec asked as he casually flipped through some of the outfits Magnus had thrown around the day previous.

Magnus bit the inside of his lip and looked over at Alec. "I was actually invited to a party Saturday night. Something Raj is putting on."

"You were invited to that?" he asked with a furrowed brow as he came over to sit on the bed next to him.

"Yeah," he said, feeling disappointed. "Clary wants me to come. I heard about it from her."

Alec shifted on the bed, leaning his weight onto his elbows, and said quietly, "I didn't think that was your kind of thing."

"What? Parties?" Magnus asked. "Who doesn't like parties?"

“No--uh--I mean,” he stammered out, “hanging out with those guys.”

“Your friends,” he pointed out. 

“Some of them are,” he said before nervously pursing his lips. 

Magnus watched Alec for a moment before saying, “Are you planning on going?”

“I was, am, whatever,” he muttered. “I’m co-captain, and Jace and everyone else is going. It’s kinda expected.”

Magnus didn’t say anything, instead picking at the chipping polish on his thumb. He felt Alec shift closer and his hand came over to rest over his. Magnus interlaced their fingers together, gently rubbing his thumb over Alec’s knuckles.

“Is this what’s got you so worked up?” Alec asked softly.

“It’s stupid,” Magnus said. “I’m sorry. It’s nothing.”

He heard Alec take a deep breath and suddenly he was being pulled up to Alec’s chest. Alec’s arms held him in a loose embrace and Magnus allowed himself to relax into Alec’s body, his head resting against the firm muscle of Alec’s shoulder.

“It’s not stupid. You’re not stupid,” Alec told him. “I’m sorry I didn’t bring it up, I just didn’t think it was a good idea and that you wouldn’t feel comfortable going. I didn’t think it would be a big deal.”

“It’s not a big deal,” Magnus said into Alec’s shirt. “It just felt...I don’t know.”

He felt Alec’s hand rub comforting circles onto his back.

“If you wanna go, you should go,” he heard him say quietly. “If someone as cool as you were there, I’d probably want to stick around.” 

Magnus couldn’t help but feel a smile creep across his face. “Maybe,” he said playfully. “I heard a pretty cute guy was gonna be there. Might try to find out if he’s interested.”

“Oh, I’m sure he is,” Alec said.

“I dunno,” he murmured into his chest. “Sometimes I wonder what he’d see in me. I think he might be out of my league.”

“Well,” Alec said as his arms tightened around Magnus, “I think he’d be an idiot not to be interested. You’re funny, you’re smart, you’re beautiful. You’re not like anyone else.” 

Alec paused, his body stiff against him. Magnus didn’t move muscle, spellbound and anxious to hear what he was going to say. 

“I would bet my bottom dollar that he’s actually liked you for a while,” he stated, his voice wavering. “And that he’s probably worried he’ll say the wrong thing, or his friends will say something shitty to you, and scare you off. That you’ll look at him, like, actually  _ look _ at him, and not like what you see.”

Magnus blinked up at Alec. He had an uneasy, searching look in his eyes. Magnus ran his fingers along Alec’s jawline. 

“Alexander,” he said softly but reassuringly. “I don't care what Raj, or Sebastian, or Jace, or what any of those other guys say. I care about you. And I like you, a lot. That's why I want to know what's going on in your life. I want to be a part of it. And I’m not going anywhere.”

Alec’s face softened up before something playful came across his face. “I know you're not going anywhere. This is your house, after all.”

Magnus rolled his eyes and groaned as he buried his face back into Alec’s shoulder. “I’m too tired for this kind of sass, Alexander,” he muttered into Alec’s shirt.

He felt Alec let out a short exhale before he began to softly run his fingers up and down the arm he had curled around him, the arm he had holding Magnus to him keeping firm. Magnus relaxed against Alec’s body, comforted by the heat radiating from him. He took a deep breath in, enjoying the masculine woodsy smell of him against his nose. He felt almost dizzy, his eyelids heavy as he let go of whatever tension he had left as he curled in against Alec. 

At some point, he knew he must have dozed off since the room was significantly dimmer, though not quite dark, the next time he opened his eyes. The main source of light from the room other than the dull light coming from the window came from Alec’s phone, as he was reading something on it with the hand that wasn’t loosely draped around Magnus. Magnus shifted against him, stretching his legs and breathing in deep to wake himself up.

“What time is it?” he asked, voice still thick with sleep.

Alec set down his phone on the bed next to him and said, “A little before six. Your dad said he can reheat dinner whenever you woke up.”

Magnus balked at that, feeling much more awake all of a sudden. “Uh--my dad saw us--”

“It was a little awkward,” Alec whispered with a laugh in his voice. “Are you feeling better though?”

Magnus sat up and stretched his arms up, his shoulders popping. “Yeah, a lot better.”

Alec followed suit, patting Magnus’ leg, and said, “Good. Let’s go eat, and I’m starving.”

If Asmodeus felt at all awkward about his encounter with Alec while Magnus was asleep, he didn’t show it when the pair went down to get food. Instead, he lounged back in his easy chair in the living room with some papers and a lapdesk, flipping through pages and marking things out with red pen. The pair waved at him as they went into the kitchen to heat up some of the leftover takeout he had brought home.

As Magnus popped one of the containers in the microwave, Alec said, “So, if you’d like, uh, maybe do you want help picking out something nice to wear?” He pointed up and said, “It seemed like you were having a hard time, what with all the clothes around.”

Magnus gave him a small smile. “I’d love that.”

Once everything was heated up, they settled into the dining room with their meals. 

“Whatever you wear, you should probably keep it simple. Most of the guys are just going to wear their team shirts or whatever,” Alec said between bites.

“Win or lose, gotta show that Hunters’ pride?” Magnus asked in a teasing voice.

“No talking about losing,” Alec said, pointing his finger at him. “Not even as a joke.”

“Is that like not mentioning the Scottish play in a theater?” he asked.

Alec shrugged and said, “It’s just better to go in with the mindset that you’re going to win. That failure isn’t an option.”

“But it is a possibility,” Magnus said before correcting, “albeit, very unlikely with you playing.”

Alec smirked and said, “Thank you.”

“Big game tomorrow?”

They turned to see Asmodeus leaning against the archway from the living room to the dining room.

“Yeah,” Alec answered. “We’re up against Edom.”

“Then we’re all going to a pizza party after to celebrate,” Magnus added.

He was pretty sure there would be pizza there, though calling it a ‘pizza party’ definitely had different connotations than just a ‘party’. His father stared at them a moment. Magnus did his best to look as innocent as possible while Alec was looking down at his food as if it was the most interesting thing he’d ever seen.

“You’re going?” he asked as he crossed his arms.

Magnus nodded and said, “Clary too.”

Asmodeus paused, then said, “Alright. Well, I hope you kids have fun. It is getting late though, so you’ll need to say ‘goodnight’ soon.”

“Yeah,” Alec said. “I’ll head out in a bit. Gotta rest up before tomorrow.”

“Right,” his father said. “And these papers aren’t going to grade themselves.”

His father headed back to the living room and Alec eyed Magnus, amused.

"So, Alexander," he said, "how much glitter before a look would no longer be considered 'casual'?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I appreciate all comments and feedback!
> 
> Chapter title from 'Hit Me Where It Hurts' by Caroline Polachek.


	8. Chapter 8: I'm Out At A Party, They're Playin' Our Song

The game was a near thing. Magnus had set up his camera behind the fencing near the player’s box, a ways away from where Clary had her set up in the audience stands near first base. He had decided that it would be a better spot for when Jace did his eventual promposal after the match finished up, but it also gave him an interesting new perspective on the field. While Clary could get more dynamic shots of the team as they were up to bat, from where Magnus stood he could get pictures of them as they were defending.

_ And a hell of a view of Alexander as he runs to first, _ he thought.

The Hunters just managed to pull ahead of the Devils in the last two innings, clinching the game with a point to spare. In the moments shortly after the game was called while the crowd on the Hunters side still was cheering, he zoomed in his lens and focused in on Clary to prepare for the shots. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the banner being unfurled and began taking shots, hoping to get the moment when Clary realized what was happening. He watched through the viewfinder as her face went from confusion to delight, snapping photos all the way. He readjusted his focus as she ran over to Jace and jumped into his arms. He smiled to himself as he watched the pair. As much as he envied the public nature of their relationship, he couldn’t help but find it sickeningly sweet to see the pair together.

_ I do love a good grand romantic gesture, _ he thought.

He flipped through the photos he had taken, quickly glimpsing through hoping that he’d gotten the shot and was reasonably satisfied that he did. He’d have to look through it later to verify that everything was well-lit and in focus, but that would have to wait till he was with his computer. He quickly packed in his equipment as game goers began to shuffle out of the stands and towards the parking lot and he slung his camera bag over his shoulder before heading out onto the field.

“I’m pretty sure I got it,” he announced to Jace as he went over to the huddled together group.

Jace still had an arm around Clary as he used his free hand to clap Magnus on the shoulder. “Thanks, man. I owe you one.”

Clary looked between them and said, “What, were you in on this?”

“Just to document it,” he said, gesturing at his bag. “You couldn’t exactly take pictures of it.”

She turned and looked up at Jace, her face full of wonder, and said, “I knew you were just a big marshmallow deep down.”

“Deep, deep,  _ deep _ down,” Raj chimed in. “Once you get past all the burned parts and scrape off the dirt from the part that fell on the ground.”

Jace reached over, punched him on the arm, and sarcastically said, “Thanks, you’re such a great friend.”

“Clearly I am,” he said. “Everyone’s coming to my place tonight, right?”

“Hell yeah,” Duncan replied. “My brother got me the hook up too, so we’ll have plenty of supplies.”

“Perfect!” he exclaimed with a clap. “See you dorks tonight then!”

Clary turned to Magnus and said, “Sebastian said he was going to give some of us a ride. If you want, we can swing by and pick you up too.”

“Yeah,” Jace said, wrapping his arm around Clary’s waist. “He’s gonna be our DD, plus fewer cars means it’s less likely for the cops to come and stop the party.”

Magnus looked at Sebastian who was shifting from foot to foot before he shrugged and said, “I don’t see why not. There should be plenty of room in my mum’s minivan for all of you, even after I pick up Helen from the party. If you give me your number, you can text me the address.”

“Uh, yeah,” Magnus said as he pulled out his phone. “I’d appreciate it.”

Sebastian rattled off his number and Magnus shot back his address in a quick text.

“Perfect,” Sebastian said with a friendly smile. “I’ll stop by later on to pick you up.”

“Thank you,” he said. “That’s really cool of you”

“It’s no problem, really,” Sebastian said as he walked off with a wave.

_ I’m glad there’s no hard feelings there, _ he thought.  _ He was probably just having a bad day before. Rejection can be a bitch. _

“Who's Helen?” Magnus asked in a faux-whisper.

“The blonde from his lame AV club,” Jace explained. “Dude likes the nerdy type, I guess.”

_ He rebounds fast. Good for him. _

He shrugged and turned to Alec and said, “You played a great game today.”

“It’s all teamwork,” he answered back humbly.

“You mean ‘me work’,” Jace joked as he pointed to himself. “I  _ carried _ this game.”

Alec thumped him on the chest with the back of his hand and said, “You keep telling yourself that.” He looked over to Magnus and said, “I, uh, I’ll see you all tonight.”

Magnus smiled and said, “We’ll see you then. Biscuit, do you need a ride back to your place?”

“No,” she said. “Jace is gonna take me home, but thanks.”

“Right,” Magnus said as he broke off from the group as well. “Then I better head off too. Don’t get up to anything too crazy before the party, kids.”

“No guarantees,” she said suggestively, earning a laugh from him.

He made his way back to his car and drove back home to get ready. The outfit Alec had helped him with the night before was very understated, just black pants and a subtly embroidered black jacket with a white t-shirt, but still very much his style. Alec had also convinced him it would be a good idea to go with wearing the school colors as well.

_ Hilarious, _ he thought.  _ My first real high school party and it’s a black-and-white affair. _

He moved to the bathroom and pulled out his set of hair paints, picking out a streak and painting it white to keep up with the color theme. He did a touch up on the smokey eye look he had done earlier in the day before the game. He took a breath, assessing himself in the mirror. Checking the time, it was still a while until Sebastian was set to pick him up. 

He decided he might as well go through the pictures he took at the game in the meantime. The only really good view he had of the pitch was of first base, but he did find a few gems there. Most of the shots of the team taking the base had them facing away from him, though he did catch one among the bunch of Alec. Zooming in, he thought he might have been looking Magnus’ way, but it was hard to tell as he had been squinting against the early afternoon sun. Regardless, it was a nice profile shot. As the player stationed at first base, he also had a few good shots of John in the bunch. Absentmindedly, he rubbed his chin as he stared at one of the pictures of John tagging out one of the Devils players. Assuming all the players were bringing their girlfriends, Lydia was sure to be there too.

He liked her well enough. They’d never really spoken one on one, but he liked what he did see of her. She definitely had a good head on her shoulders, smart and driven. From what Catarina had told him before about class rankings, she was set to be the salutatorian, so she definitely had brains to match her beauty queen looks. On top of that, she seemed like the type who had a good backbone and a strong sense of justice. 

_Any guy’s dream girl,_ he thought. _If John was the one going around showing my pictures,_ _I can’t imagine her standing for that._

He heard his phone go off and saw it was from Sebastian, letting him know he was a few minutes away. Magnus sighed, saving his progress and shutting everything down. He did a quick check that he had everything he’d need before making his way downstairs. 

He was just pulling on his shoes when he heard his father ask, “Getting ready to go?”

He turned and glanced at him for a moment before replying, “Yeah, a friend is picking me up in a minute.”

“Right, well, I hope you have fun,” he said. “And that you call me. If anything happens, or if you need help, or a ride home. I’d rather you ask me to come get you than for you to be in a dangerous situation.”

Magnus huffed out a laugh and asked, “What sort of situation would be dangerous at a pizza party? I burn the roof of my mouth on hot cheese?”

“Dangerous like getting in a car with someone who shouldn’t be driving.”

_ Shit. _

Magnus tried to hide his wince at that as he laced up his boots. He was certain he hadn’t let anything slip, but Asmodeus had probably just made an educated guess. Looking back up, he saw his father’s face was unreadable as always.

“I will,” he stated. “I promise.”

“Good,” he said before going back to sit in his chair with his book.

Magnus finished tying his boots up but didn’t get up from the step he was sitting on, just scrolling through his insta absentmindedly until his phone finally buzzed letting him know Sebastian was outside.

“I’m off,” he announced as he got up and headed out the door. “I’ll see you later.”

He locked the door behind himself and went up to the minivan as the door opened.

“Hey!” Jace greeted, his hand intertwined with Clary’s in the seat next to him. “You're the last one we’re picking up. There’s some room in the back.”

He nodded and clambered over Jace to get to the very back of the minivan. He settled in next to Alec, giving him a small smile as he buckled in. Alec had a bright look in his eyes, but said nothing.

“So that’s Aline, right?” Jace asked as he pointed up front to a cute Asian girl he’d never seen before in the passenger’s seat

“Yeah,” she said, craning back and giving him a short friendly wave from the front of the van. “I’m Sebastian’s cousin. Just visiting from Alicante.”

“Lovely to meet you,” he said. “Magnus Bane, Clary’s friend.”

"Mostly everybody should be there already," Sebastian said as he pulled out from in front of Magnus' place, "but you never know, more might come by later."

"Who all is going?" Magnus asked.

"Guys from baseball, guys from swim, guys from the basketball team, all their girlfriends, some girls Sebastian knows from AV," Alec rattled off. "I don't know who else."

Magnus raised his eyebrows and said, “I didn’t know Raj had so many friends.”

“‘Friends’ is a strong word,” Alec said with finger quotes.

That earned a laugh from Jace, who added, “He definitely  _ knows _ a lot of people.”

Magnus laughed along with the group. It was fascinating to him, to get to be with Alec while he was in his element. How the way he spoke about them in texts wasn’t at all different from how he spoke to them right to their faces.

_ That’s just him, _ he thought adoringly, a warm fuzzy feeling filling his chest as he watched Alec joke and laugh with them.  _ Just him being honestly and truly him. This sassy, sarcastic, beautiful man. _

They pulled into the neighborhood, parking a few houses down from Raj’s place. As they hopped out and walked toward the house, he could hear the music coming from out of the open windows and doors. He felt Clary give him an elbow to the arm and he looked over at her.

“You ready for this?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he answered. “You?”

She nodded, her face beaming as she lined her arm with Jace’s, and exclaimed, “Let’s rock this thang!”

“‘Rock this thang’?” Alec questioned derisively. “Have you ever tried not talking like a narc?”

“Hush,” Magnus chided lightheartedly as he turned back to him. “Not all of us can be jaded cool guys. The world needs a handful of Biscuits.”

Alec gave him a tight smile in return, his eyes playful, but didn’t say anything as their group entered the house. Magnus observed how people looked and treated them as they walked into the party, the way people high-fived and patted Jace, the Hunters’ MVP. Few people even seemed to take a second glance at the rest of them when there was the star couple walking ahead of them. He felt the back of Alec’s hand bump against his as they walked towards the kitchens. He gave him a side glance, but Alec wasn’t looking at him, instead he kept walking straight ahead.

“Look who finally decided to grace us with their presence!” Duncan exclaimed a little too loudly, a slight slur in his voice.

“Look who’s already well into the sauce,” Sebastian said as he guided him by the shoulder over to the sink. “It’s still early. Might do with some water, yeah mate?”

He heard Duncan mutter something he couldn’t quite make out as Sebastian filled a solo cup with water from the faucet. He turned to Alec and grimaced as Jace suddenly thrust drinks into their hands.

“What’s this?” Magnus said as he peered down into the fizzy peach colored liquid.

“PPDs,” he informed him as he walked past him, Clary’s hand in his, and took her with him back into the crowded living room.

Magnus turned Alec and asked, “As if that should mean something to me?”

“It’s, uh,” Alec said as he looked down into his cup nervously, “it’s what it’s called.”

Magnus let out a huff through his nose and held out his cup as he said, “Alright. Well, here. To us.”

Magnus tipped his cup to Alec, who tapped his cup to his in return before they each took a sip. It was sweet, bubbly, and very easy to drink, whatever it was. 

“We should, y’know,” Alec said as he nodded toward Jace had gone with Clary.

“Right. We should join the party,” he said.

He followed Alec as they made their way through to the living room where a group were crowding around together. He saw as Raj noticed them and waved them over.

“Perfect timing, Lightwood!” he called out. “King’s Cup!”

Alec groaned, but made his way over to the circle of people who were forming around the coffee table. He lounged over the arm of one of the couches and looked over to Magnus, nodding toward the circle for him to join. Magnus nodded slowly, looking around the circle to find somewhere to sit. Clary caught his eye on the floor next to Jace, waving her hand and beckoning him over as she scooted over to make room for him to sit next to her. He settled down and looked around at the group that had formed before turning to her and her boyfriend.

“So what’s going on?” he asked, taking a sip of his drink.

“King’s Cup,” Jace answered, big grin on his face as he splayed out a deck of cards in a circle around the large cup that was in the center of the table. “It’s a game.”

“The rules!” Raj exclaimed as he clapped his hands together. “For all the new blood here!”

“So you pick a card from the circle, and whatever it is you have to do,” John explained from where he was seated on the couch with Lydia half on his lap. “Ace is ‘waterfall’, so starting with the person who picked it, we all drink until the person to our right stops. Two is ‘you’, so you pick someone to drink. Three is me, so you drink. Four is ‘whores’--”

“Meaning ladies!” Raj exclaimed. “Or anyone the group deems to be a whore, so ladies and Jace.”

“And you!” Jace exclaimed defensively as he pointed at Raj, who rolled his eyes.

“Five is ‘bust a jive’, so we go around in the circle adding new dance moves until someone can’t get the dance right,” John continued. “Six is ‘dicks’, so all the guys have to drink for that one.”

“Raj is a massive dick, so he has to drink twice for that one,” Alec chimed in.

“Only because it’s so big!” Raj called out.

“You wish,” a girl Magnus vaguely remembered from the AV club muttered, earning a few laughs and a put-out look from Raj.

“It was very cold,” Raj stated weakly.

“No one needs or wants to know that story,” Jace said, waving his hand. “Seven is ‘Heaven’, last one to raise their hand drinks. Eight is ‘mate’, so you pick a drinking buddy who has to drink every time you do. Nine is ‘rhyme’, so it starts with whoever picked the card and we go around until someone can’t think of a word that rhymes.”

“And nothing that doesn’t have a rhyme, like ‘orange’ or ‘purple’,” Lydia added. “Ten is ‘categories’, so the person who picked the card picks a category and we go around until someone can’t think of something that fits.”

“Jack is ‘Never Have I Ever’,” Jace said. “Five fingers up, the person who puts down all their fingers has to drink.”

“Queen is ‘questions’, so the person who picked the cards picks someone in the circle and they exchange questions until one doesn’t answer back with one,” John said. “And whoever pulls a King has to pour some of their drink into the cup. Last one with a King has to drink the King’s Cup.”

“No mere mortal may survive drinking from that cup,” Jace said as he looked around. “We’ve got beers, PPDs, and whatever the fuck the AV girls are drinking.”

“I hate beer,” one of the girls from AV, the only blonde and apparently Sebastian’s new girlfriend Helen, said. “We’re drinking screwdrivers.”

“So this will be an interesting game!” Raj exclaimed before indicating to Jace. “MVP first!”

Jace leaned over, carefully picking out a card, holding it up and pointing to Alec. 

“Mate!” he cried out, earning a groan from Alec before the two took a sip in unison.

Around the circle they went, one of the AV girls pulling a King and pouring some of her drink in, another getting a queen and having a back and forth for a minute with one of the other girls before the one who picked the card lost, and two sevens in a row, one that Lydia lost and the other that Raj lost.

“Alright, alright,” Raj said, taking a sip of his beer before reaching in and grabbing a card out.

“You broke the circle!” John exclaimed. “Drink!”

Raj groaned, taking another sip before looking at the card he pulled.

“Whores!” he exclaimed, holding up the four. “Ladies and Magnus, drink!”

Magnus looked around, annoyed and confused, before saying, “How does that track? I don’t sleep around.”

“You’re bi, right?” Raj asked. “That qualifies.”

“Bis are greedy,” one of the AV girls added in a slur as she finished her sip. “He should drink.”

“Being bi doesn’t make him a slut,” Alec said with an edge in his voice.

_ I could kiss you right now, Alexander, _ he thought proudly, his mind just beginning to feel the booze. He decided it was better to acquiesce than to argue.

“It’s fine,” Magnus said, taking a sip. “Better to be considered a whore than a dick.”

“You have to drink for dicks too,” Raj stated. “Unless you decided all that makeup makes you a girl.”

“What, do you want to check?” Magnus asked provocatively, splaying his knees wider and getting a few of the guys laughing. 

Raj turned pink at the suggestion and muttered, “Whatever. We’ve all seen it.”

“Some of us liked it,” one of the girls said, looking at Magnus with a provocative smirk. “Looks like Raj did too.”

“Did not!” Raj exclaimed.

“So if we go looking through your phone, we won’t see anything you wouldn’t like us to see?” John asked.

“I’m sure there’s plenty we don’t want to see on your phone,” Clary stated, disgust evident even in her slightly inebriated state.

“Can we not do this?” Alec said, clearly irritated as he pulled a card out, before declaring with a smirk, “Waterfall.”

Everyone began drinking. Magnus could see Alec watching Raj to the right of him as he drank. A few groans began to come echoing out of the cups from the various people around the circle as they waited for him to stop drinking, but he kept watching Raj, the very last person in the chain of the waterfall, as he kept going.

“Shit,” Raj said as he drained the last of his drink.

Alec pulled his drink down from his lips, and each person in line almost immediately following suit.

“Go get another one,” he commanded, nodding at Raj to go to the kitchen. He shook his drink and said, “Actually, I think everyone needs one.”

“Refill time,” Jace declared as he stood up.

Magnus grinned at Alec as Jace and Raj got up to get pitchers to refill drinks. Alec pulled out his phone and typed something out. Magnus pulled out his own phone pretending to scroll through it until the message came through.

**Alexander** **  
** **7:11PM** **  
** **I’m sorry about him.**

**Magnus** **  
** **7:11PM** **  
** **Its okay, nothing Im not used to**

He looked up and saw Alec staring down at his phone, a troubled look on his face. Alec chewed on his lip as he typed out something. Magnus felt his phone buzz in his hand and looked down.

**Alexander** **  
** **7:12PM** **  
** **You shouldn’t have to.**

Magnus’ head shot up from his phone as he heard Raj cry out, “Alright! Cups up!”

Magnus held out his cup as Jace poured in the same peachy liquid into his cup, much fuller than Alec had.

Helen pulled a face as she smelled the drink Raj poured into her cup and let out a laugh as she said, “I think you could strip a car with this. What the hell did you do?”

“We weren’t sure about the mix proportions on screwdrivers,” he said as he set down the mostly emptied pitcher of orange liquid. “It’s mostly vodka, right?”

“Are we ready to go?” Lydia asked reaching over the table, ready to pull a card.

“Let’s fuckin’ go!” Jace said as he flopped back down in his spot next to Clary, beer sloshing over.

She pulled the card and set down her drink and the card on the table as she said, “Bust a jive!”

She vogued for a moment before turning to John, who did her move, then added a Travolta point. The girl sitting next to Magnus giggled, following their motions, then adding a hip thrust. Magnus followed suit, adding robot arm and head motions to it. They each went around until one of the AV girls forgot Clary’s strange arm move and had to drink.

On John’s turn, he pulled the second King, pouring in some of his beer into the cup. The girl next to him pulled a six, making the guys drink. Finally it was Magnus’ turn. Carefully to not break the circle, he pulled out his card and showed the group the Queen he pulled. He thought for a moment on who to pick before turning to Clary.

“Biscuit, what are we doing here?”

She giggled. “Isn’t this a drinking game?”   
“No, I mean, when are we going to give up this charade?”

She shook her head, still giggling. “What are you talking about?”

He put his hand on her cheek and asked, “Can’t you see that everyone knows you’re deeply in love with me?”

She covered her mouth, pulling away from his hand and trying not to laugh as she asked, “Are you sure about that?”

He grabbed her hand and asked, “Biscuit, when are you finally going to dump Jace and run away with me?”

She was beaming, finally playing along as she asked, “Magnus, can’t you see that we can’t be together?”

“Didn’t you say you wanted to marry me?”

“Didn’t you reject me?”

“But didn’t you used to write my name in hearts in the margins of your math notebook?”

“I did not!” she exclaimed before letting out a curse and drinking, the rest of the group busting out laughing.

They went around again, Magnus feeling more and more of the drink as they went around again. Another four and six got pulled, along with one of the AV girls pulling another waterfall, but this time he was much farther down the chain despite the fact that they weren’t playing the same sort of harsh game Alec did with Raj. Helen pulled her card, the first Jack of the game. Everyone put up five fingers as she began the round.

“Never have I ever lived anywhere other than Idris,” she said.

Magnus and two of the other girls put down a finger.

The girl next to her thought for a moment before saying, “Never have I ever driven a car.”

More people put down fingers this time, but it got a groan from Raj.

“You guys are so boring,” he said, before smirking as he looked around. “Never have I ever sucked a dick.”

A few of the girls and Magnus put down a finger. 

Raj pointed at him and exclaimed, “What did I say! See, what did I say!”

Alec glared at him and loudly said, “Never have I ever gotten diarrhea in the pool during swim practice.”

A roar of laughter and exclamations of disgust went up as Raj reluctantly put down a finger. 

“Never have I ever,” Lydia drew out, “kissed a girl.”

Magnus put down his fourth finger along with all of the rest of the guys, but he saw Jace out of the corner of his eye nearly jump out of his seat, staring at Helen.

“Okay!” he said, pointing at her. “Okay! That is a story I want to hear!”

“It’s none of your business,” she muttered.

“Yeah, but that’s hot as fuck,” Raj said. “Ay, Lyds, if you haven’t kissed a girl, we’ve got a solution.”

“Fuck right off,” John said as he stared at Raj. “Never have I ever tried to shotgun a warm can of Coke only for it to all come out of my nose.”

“I hate all of you,” he said as he put down his fourth finger. He looked over at Magnus and said, “Looks like it’s down to you and me, big boy.”

“At least one of us is a big boy,” Magnus said, gesturing down to his pants and getting a scowl back from Raj.

He turned to the girl next to him who said, “Never have I ever had my hair cut short.”

“It’s a draw,” Magnus said as he took a drink at the same time as Raj, everyone else putting their hands down.

“Not so fast,” the girl next to Helen said, holding up another Jack. “Round two!”

Everyone put up five fingers again. 

“Never have I ever had sex in a car,” she said.

A few, including Magnus, Jace, and Clary, all put down fingers, but the one that got the most attention was Alec.

“What is this!” Raj exclaimed. “So this is why you haven’t been such an asshole? Congratulations! We’re all very proud of you!”

“If having sex makes you less of an asshole, then why are you you, Raj?” Alec questioned.

“Don’t be like that!” he cried. “We want to know every dirty detail!”

“Try asking your mom,” he retorted.

“Nice comeback. Seventh grade is calling, ‘your mom’ jokes aren’t funny anymore,” Raj said. “Never have I ever been an eighteen-year-old virgin.”

Alec rolled his eyes and put down another finger.

“Never have I ever hit on one of my friend’s girlfriends.”

Raj put down a finger.

“Not painting you in a good light, Raj,” John said. “Though asking to paint you in a good light is a tall order.”

“Ha ha,” Raj said sarcastically.

Lydia thought for a moment before saying, “Never have I ever lied about hooking up with someone.”

“Clarification needed!” one of the AV girls exclaimed as she held up her hand. “Lied about not hooking up or lied and said you did?”

“Either,” she answered with a shrug.

A few of the girls and all of the guys except Raj put down a finger, which got him some looks. 

“What?” he said defensively. “I don’t lie about that kind of stuff.”

“He’s right,” Jace backed him up. “He kisses and tells everyone everything.”

“In excruciating and disgusting detail,” Alec added in a displeased tone.

“It’s understandable for the girls to lie though,” Jace said with a smirk. “I know if I banged you, I wouldn’t want another living soul to know about it either.”

That got him a couple of chuckles from the group and a middle finger from Raj.

“Alright,” John said, clearly trying to think of a good one. “Never have I ever...kissed a man.”

Magnus cautiously glanced over at Alec as he put down a finger. A few cries came up, but then Alec pointed at Jace. Magnus’ eyes went wide as he looked next to him at Jace.

“You too,” he said.

Jace shook his head and said, “That doesn’t count.”

“Does too!”

“What the fuck is this?” Raj asked in a high pitched voice.

“It was for a dare,” Jace grumbled. “At a sleepover,  _ years ago _ , one of his sister’s friends dared us to kiss.”

“Dare kisses are still kisses,” Alec retorted, before he put a hand over his heart and put on a mocking tone. “Unless you’re trying to say I was just another notch in your belt.”

Jace rolled his eyes and put down a finger.

The girl beside Magnus was up. “Never have I ever had phone sex.”

“Expand on that,” Magnus said. “What qualifies as phone sex?”

“Sorry Bane, but sticking the phone up your ass and having people call you so you can feel the vibrations counts,” Raj said with a laugh, earning a punch to the arm from Alec. He looked at him incredulously. “What the fuck was that for!”

“Stop being such an asshole!” Alec shouted at him. 

“It’s my fucking house, I’ll say what I want!” Raj said as he stood up, getting in near to Alec’s face. 

Alec stood up as well, his towering high making him look down at Raj as he said, “We can take this outside of your fuckin’ house if you fuckin’ keep it up!”

“GIRLS! Girls!” Jace cried out. “You’re both pretty! Now calm the fuck down! Fuckin’ sit down, both of you!”

They each lowered themselves back down to where they were sitting, each still looking pissed.

“Answer Bane’s question,” Jace told the girl. “What counts?”

“Uh,” she started, looking uncomfortable. “Talking all sexy on the phone?”

Magnus sighed and elaborated, “No, but like, does sexting count as phone sex?”

“Uh, no?” she answered, making it sound more like a question than an actual answer.

“Alright then,” he said nodding.

_ My turn, _ he thought.  _ What’s a good one? _

His mind felt kind of blank now that he was up, but he said the first one he thought of, “Never have I ever played baseball.”

“Never played,” Raj sneered as he went down to one finger, “but you do like to come to the games and watch us.”

“That’s right,” Magnus said defiantly before Alec could try to get up and fight Raj again. “Never played, but I’ve been told I’m an amazing  _ pitcher _ , if you catch my drift. At least that’s what your dad says.”

“Fuck off, you fucking freak!” Raj shouted at him, suddenly standing up and storming off. He could hear him shout from the kitchen, “No one even fucking wants you here!”

“Angels save us,” Lydia breathed out. 

“What a guy,” John said dryly. “Sorry about that, Magnus. Don’t listen to him, he’s always like this when he's drunk. We’re down one now though.”

“Uhm,” Magnus heard a female voice chime in. “I can play, if he’s out.”

He looked over and saw Aline standing nearby, waving a hand.

“Join us!” Jace called to her, beckoning her over with a large arm wave. “We could use a good friendly face!”

She sat down in the spot Raj had vacated.

“Five fingers,” Jace told her, holding up his own hand. “We’re doing ‘Never Have I Ever’.”

“No we aren’t,” Alec corrected as he took a drink. “I lost on playing baseball.”

“Shit, okay,” Jace said as he lowered his hand. “Then it’s your turn to pull.”

“Right!” Aline said as she nodded and pulled out a card from the circle. She held up the third King.

“Oh, we’re getting close!” Helen said, grinning as she looked over at Aline. “What are you adding into the King’s Cup?”

“Pink Panty Dropper,” Aline told her as she poured.

_ ‘Pink Panty Dropper’, _ Magnus thought.  _ What kind of-- _

“Wait, is that what I’ve been drinking? Is that what PPD means?” Magnus asked, his brow raised in amusement at Alec, who pointedly looked away.

“Yeah,” John confirmed. “You should watch out, those things are dangerous. You can barely even taste all of the vodka in ‘em. That’s why I stick to plain beer.”

“Oh, that’s a gross name,” Clary said, her nose crinkled up.

“What was that other thing?” Lydia asked John as she brushed his arm. “What did your cousin call it?”

John laughed and said, “Oh yeah, at Alicante U, they call it a ‘Skip And Go Naked’.”

“I can’t tell what’s worse,” Clary said with a giggle.

Alec pulled his card, a ten, and he announced, “The category is types of archery bows.”

Jace groaned and said, “For fuck’s sake, Alec, that’s a terrible category.”

“Fuck you, recurve bow.”

“Longbow?” Lydia said questioningly.

John just shrugged, taking the L and a drink.

Lydia pulled a two and pointed at Jace, who then pointed at his drinking mate, Alec. John pulled a five, but at this point in the game, they only made it as far as Jace before the round broke down and the girl sitting next to him had to drink. The girl next to Magnus broke the circle and got a three, making her have to drink twice. Finally, it got back down to Magnus. He pulled his card from the circle, glanced at it, sighed, and stood up, revealing he had gotten the dreaded last King of the game.

“We have our king!” Jace cried out. “Empty your drink into your cup, my liege!”

Magnus cursed as he poured in the last of his PPD into the goblet at the center of the table. He picked up the glass from the table, being careful not to spill it everywhere.

“I hope you guys wash this thing between games,” he said with a grimace as he looked at the concoction. 

“Our backwash is already in it,” John said with a laugh. “Whatever was in it before probably doesn’t matter.”

“Great. Cheers,” he said before accepting his fate.

He took a long sip. It was warm, which definitely made it worse. He could taste the beer, vodka, orange juice, and whatever made the PPDs pink all coming together in the glass. The flavor wasn’t the worst thing in the world, but he definitely wouldn’t have chosen to drink it if it wasn’t for the game.

“May King Magnus Bane reign long and well!” Jace called out, and Magnus could hear a few party goers repeat the cry.

The group slowly dispersed, including Lydia and John who apparently decided to go out and get some fresh air, freeing up space on the couch. Magnus sat down next to where Alec was lounging. Jace followed suit, pulling Clary onto his lap as he sat.

“Good game!” Jace told Magnus. “I think the last time we played, someone actually ended up punching Raj, so maybe he’s learned his lesson to just back down.”

“Is it bad?” Alec asked Magnus with a pained look on his face.

Magnus held out the cup for him to take it. Alec did so, their fingers brushing against each other as he took it. Alec took a drink, his face clearly displeased.

“Not great,” he said, his voice tight as he handed it back.

“A true king drains it,” Jace stated.

At that Alec rolled his eyes and put his arm around Magnus’ shoulder, saying, “Don’t listen to him. He’s never finished the King’s Cup. He’s always wussed out because it’s too gross.”

Magnus leaned into Alec’s touch and jokingly asked, “Is my legitimacy to the throne being called into question?”

“I just call ‘em like I see ‘em,” Jace said with a smirk.

Magnus narrowed his eyes at him, pausing for a moment before taking a deep breath. He accepted the challenge, necking it in one breathless go before holding out the emptied cup. Jace had a shocked look on his face before it opened up into a wide smile.

“Clearly this king is no ordinary king!” he called out. “Magnus Bane is no mere mortal! And this cup is no mortal cup! We have a god among us!”

“We’ll see about that in like half an hour,” Clary said, her eyelids half-closed as her head lolled onto Jace’s shoulder.

Magnus leaned forward, setting down the empty glass onto the table. He never felt Alec’s hand leave his shoulder as he did so, and he looked up at him from where he was sitting up on the arm of the couch.

_Angels,_ _I love this man._ The thought came unbidden, but in his hazy brain, it felt right. He knew it, then and there. _This is why I’ve been all messed up this week. This is what’s been bothering me. I love him._ He shook off the thought, even in his inebriated state knowing not to just spill that out now.

“Do you guys play this a lot?” Magnus asked him, trying to keep the subject on the here and now.

“For bigger parties,” Alec replied before taking a sip of his drink. “It can be a lot of fun, and it’s just one way to get drunk.”

“Better than just standing around drinking,” Jace added. “It makes drinking into a sport.”

As they sat and talked for a time, mainly Alec and Jace talking about previous get togethers and parties, Magnus felt the fingers on his shoulder move upwards, drawing comforting little circles onto the base of his neck. The affection and the sensation coming from those fingertips was something he found entirely distracting, made all the worse by the alcoholic fog that had settled into his brain.

“I, uhm, I need to go to the bathroom,” Magnus said, suddenly standing up from the couch and out from Alec’s arm. He looked to Alec as he asked, “Could you show me where the bathrooms are?”

“Uh, yeah,” Alec said as he set down his drink onto the table. “There’s one upstairs, I’ll take you.”

He followed behind Alec, watching him as he took him upstairs. The first door he tried was locked.

“This is the main one,” Alec told him. “But, uh, his parent’s room has the master bath in it.”

Magnus smirked and low voice, “That sounds like the place to be then.” He leaned up and whispered into Alec’s ear, “I don’t actually have to go to the bathroom.”

Alec had a glint in his eye as he looked at Magnus and led him to another door down the hall. The room was dark when they walked in. Alec closed the door behind them, locking it. 

He pushed Magnus roughly up against the door, the noise of that mostly being covered by the sounds of the music still being played below, and locking his lips with Magnus’ into a sloppy kiss. Alec tasted sweet from his drink and the feeling of him pushing his weight up against him set his every nerve on fire. He could already feel that he was half hard just from Alec’s looks and him pushing him around.

“Fuck,” Magnus breathed into the kiss. “I want you.”

Alec’s fingers entwined into his hair and he could already feel him messing it up but he didn’t care. His clumsy fingers went for Alec’s fly, just barely getting the button undone before squeezing his hand in and grabbing Alec’s cock. He swallowed Alec’s moans as he stroked him before Alec pulled away from the kiss and leaned up to his ear.

Alec whispered, “Shouldn’t I kneel before the king?”

Magnus’ mouth dropped at that. He could feel Alec’s grin against his skin as he moved downward onto his knees, tugging at the button and zipper of Magnus’ pants and lightly pulling down the front to expose him. He wished he could see Alec in the darkness of the room as he felt his lips begin to work his cock. Instead he settled for just enjoying the sensation of Alec’s hot, wet mouth. It was sloppy, clearly the first blow job he’d ever given and he was pretty drunk, but to Magnus it was amazing because it was  _ Alexander _ and he was  _ in love with him _ .

He imagined the look on Alec’s face as he ran his fingers through Alec’s hair, picturing those pink lips stretched open and his cheeks hollowed out as he worked him. Magnus resisted the urge to grab his head and force his head down or fuck his face, knowing it better to just let Alec do what he was comfortable doing. He bit his lip to keep himself from letting out the moans that he could feel bubbling up in his chest. He could feel heat beginning to pool low in his stomach and that he was getting close.

“Alexander,” he warned in a half-moan, “I’m going to cum.”

He felt his knees nearly buckle as he reached his climax. Alec kept working his shaft until he could feel himself spilling partially into Alec’s mouth. Midway through his orgasm, Alec pulled off with a cough, and even without the light, he knew Alec’s face must be a mess. When he was done, he heard Alec spit onto the carpeted floor of Raj’s parent’s room before clearing his throat.

“Shit,” he heard Alec say. “I didn’t know it would feel like that. Let me, uh, find a light.”

Magnus heard a gasp and a rustling as Alec turned on the light. That’s when he saw the lumps under the covers moving and the clothes thrown around the room. He quickly tucked himself back into his pants with a curse. He looked at Alec, who’s hair was a complete mess, his face bright pink with an expression of horror across it, and his swollen lips glistening in the low light of the lamp. 

Alec grabbed a tissue from the box on the nightstand, quickly wiping at his face, and sputtering out, “Shit--no--this--this isn’t what it looks like!”

“Who is that?” Magnus asked. “Show yourselves!”

Magnus immediately recognized the two faces that peered out at them from under the covers. He looked between the blonde and the brunette tucked up together in the bed, completely taken aback.

“So, uh, do you guys know each other…?”

“This isn’t what it looks like either!” Aline cried out, clutching the cover up to her neck.

“We weren’t doing anything!” Helen concurred.

“Uh,” Alec looked at Magnus, tissue clutched tightly in his hand. “Us neither. We didn’t see anything, you didn’t see anything. Right?”

“Yeah,” Aline said, nodding.

“We, uh, we should clean up,” Magnus said as he looked at Alec. “We’ll be in the bathroom.”

“Uhm, same,” Helen said. “But, y’know, in here.”

Magnus locked the bathroom door behind him and Alec. Alec still looked somewhat panicked.

“By the Angels, this was so stupid,” Alec whispered as he tangled his hands into his own hair.

“It’s fine,” Magnus breathed out as he put his hands to either side of Alec’s face and leaned his forehead onto Alec’s. “See, everything is fine.”

Magnus leaned in and kissed Alec’s lips, their lips slightly sticking together from whatever remnants Alec hadn’t been able to wipe off with the tissue. Alec shook his head, leaning away and turning to the sink to wash his face.

“I’m sorry,” Magnus said. “You’re right, it was kind of stupid. I was thinking with my dick. And how much I wanted you. I didn’t think about, you know. Stuff like this.”

Alec dried his face onto one of the hand towels next to the sink and sighed, looking at Magnus in the mirror. “Me too.”

Magnus gingerly put his hand on Alec’s back, who gave him a small smile at the affectionate touch. He leaned back onto Magnus, eyes still looking at his in the mirror.

In a faux-annoyed voice, Alec whispered, “I didn’t even get to cum.”

Magnus broke at that, letting out a small laugh at the sheer ridiculousness at the situation.

“Next time you give me a blow job, I’ll make sure no one else is in the room,” Magnus told him quietly. He eyed the door and asked, “Do you think it’s safe?”

Alec shrugged, unlocking the bathroom door and opening it a crack to peek out before opening it the rest of the way. The two girls were still in the room, sitting on top of the covers this time, their hair and clothes now significantly more disheveled than when they were playing King’s Cup.

“So, uh,” Magnus began awkwardly. “How long have you guys, y'know. This?”

“Sebastian introduced us, around when he first transferred,” Aline said. “But--he doesn’t know. No one does.”

“So you’re cheating on him with his own cousin?” Alec asked as he crossed his arms.

“He and I, we’re just friends,” Helen told them in an exasperated tone. “I don’t know who said we were hooking up, but Sebastian is just my friend. Aline is my girlfriend.” 

She sighed, and looked over at Aline lovingly before back to Alec and Magnus.

“You know how this school is,” Helen added. “I’m so close to graduating, I just don’t want to screw everything up.”

“I mean, you said you kissed a girl during the game,” Alec pointed out.

“Kissing a girl and being in love with one are not considered the same thing,” she said. “You heard what they said. They said that it was ‘hot as fuck’. ”

“What about you?” Aline asked. 

Alec looked searchingly at Magnus for a moment before slipping his hand into Magnus’. “A while.”

“So you get it,” Helen said. “It’s better for all of us if this never happened. At least not until after graduation.”

Magnus nodded and said, “Agreed. We should, y’know, get back out there.”

“Yeah,” Aline said with a sigh as she put her hand on Helen’s knee and shook it gently. “Let’s go.”

The four of them separated from their respective partners and made their way to the door. Magnus grabbed the handle, unlocking it and opening the door. To his complete and utter dismay he was greeted, not by a dark hallway, but a number of faces.

“I fuckin’ knew it!” Duncan exclaimed, still clearly intoxicated. “An orgy! Raj! They were having an orgy in your parents’ room!”

Magnus was completely taken aback by that. He looked over his shoulder to the other three, who looked just as shocked as he felt. Based on how messed up their clothes and hair were, not to mention the fact that they had been in a locked room together for nearly half an hour and the room still smelled like sex, he immediately got why the people out in the hallway thought what they did. He made his mind up at that moment. Seeing the red faces and disheveled appearances of Helen, Aline, and Alec behind him, he gave them a quick wink, trying to wordlessly get them to follow his lead. He straightened himself up and held his head high before proudly walking out of the room past the excited whispers. He could vaguely sense them following behind him, but whether or not they got his signal, he wasn’t sure. 

_ Let them think what they like, _ he thought as he walked down into the living room to dozens of astonished eyes staring at him.  _ They’ll think whatever they want to anyway. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter, it was an absolute blast to write! Like I said in my last update, this chapter and last chapter were initially going to be one, but the party ended up becoming an absolute behemoth. I was probably 4/5ths of the way done with the party when I realized how long it was getting and decided to split it. But since I was so far into it, that just means another chapter out much sooner! I've begun work on the next chapter and I hope to have that one up soon. As always, all comments and feedback are appreciated, let me know your thoughts!
> 
> Chapter title from 'So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings' by Caroline Polachek.


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